10/1/2004 - Women's Cross Country
Women's Cross Country Wins Second-Consecutive Meet

Freshman Kyleigh Millhouse finished seventh at the Gulden Invitational.

Sophomore Christine Taranto placed ninth at the Gulden Invitational.

Lewisburg, Pa. - The Navy women's cross country team won its second-consecutive meet Friday by placing first out of 11 teams in the Gulden Invitational at Bucknell University.

The Midshipmen, who won the Salty Seadog Open two weeks ago in Annapolis, totaled 60 points and edged out Patriot League-foe Bucknell by two points (62) for the meet championship. It was the third-meet title in four tries for the Mids this season.

"I was pleased with how the team ran today," head coach Karen Boyle said. "The times weren't great, but we ran really well as a pack. That helped us win the race."

Leading the way for Navy was freshman Kyleigh Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.), as she placed seventh out of 128 runners in a time of 23:05.23. Including the 2003 season, a freshman runner has paced the Midshipmen in eight of 11 meets. As rookies last year, Erin Demchko (Nanuet, N.Y.) and Emily Castro (Centennial, Colo.) combined to be the top-Navy runner in all seven meets.

"Kyleigh has been improving throughout the season and it was great to see her compete as well as she did today," Boyle added.

Following Millhouse was sophomore Christine Taranto (Coraopolis, Pa.), who finished in ninth place with a time of 23:15.97. It was the second-straight race and the third time this season that Taranto has placed in the top-10 of the individual standings.

Demchko and freshman Vicki Moore (Burke, Va.) were next for Navy in 12th and 13th place, respectively. Demchko crossed the finish-line in a time of 23:28.31, while Moore came right behind in 23:28.72.

Rounding out the top-seven runners for the Mids was sophomore Jade Baum (Columbia, Pa.) in 19th place (23:42.69), senior captain Kristyn Kern (Commerce Township, Mich.) in 22nd place (23:53.02) and sophomore Juliann Jordan (Kaneohe, Hawai'i) in 27th place (24:02.00).

Navy and Bucknell were two of five Patriot League schools competing in the event. Lafayette finished in fourth place with 125 points, while Lehigh and Army came in seventh (159 points) and ninth place (258), respectively.

Navy will be off next week, but will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 16, as it plays host to Army in the Star Meet at the USNA Cross Country Course. The race is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.

Team Standings
1. Navy 60
2. Bucknell 62
3. Wayne State 91
4. Lafayette 125
5. IUP 127
6. Bloomsburg 146
7. Lehigh 159
8. Clarion 163
9. Army 258
10. Lock Haven 296
11. Mount St. Mary's 343

Top-10 Individual Standings (6K)
1. Mindy Sawtelle (IUP), 22:19.81
2. Melissa Moncion (Wayne State), 22:35.34
3. Amber Hackenberg (Bloomsburg), 22:40.16
4. Jen Schappert (Lehigh), 22:41.13
5. Leanna Nastase (Bucknell), 22:53.34
6. Jenni Culbertson (Wayne State), 2:53.66
7. Kyleigh Millhouse (Navy), 23:05.23
8. Melissa Terwilliger (Clarion), 23:12.91
9. Christine Taranto (Navy), 23:15.97
10. Erin Cranmer-Hart (Bucknell), 23:18.13