Whipple Earns Patriot League Runner-of-the-Week Honors

Justine Whipple finished 40.34 seconds ahead of Army's top runner last Saturday

	Navy senior Justine Whipple

Oct. 18, 2006

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - For the third time in 2006, Navy senior women's cross country runner Justine Whipple (Duxbury, Mass.) has been named the Patriot League Female Runner of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.

In her final collegiate race at the USNA Cross Country Course against Army in the Star Meet last Saturday, Whipple won the meet with a time of 22:15.13, the third fastest in course history and second-best clocking by a Navy runner. One year after crossing the finish line 37.34 seconds ahead of all runners at West Point, she finished 40.34 seconds ahead of Army's top runner last weekend.

Whipple has posted Navy's fastest time in each of her last-10 races, dating to the start of the 2005 campaign. During those meets, the product of Duxbury, Mass., owns three overall first-place performances and nine top-15 efforts.

The league first recognized Whipple this year following her first-place performance at the Harry Lang Invitational on Sept. 1. In that race, she covered the 6k course in an invitational-record time of 22:57. Competing against several All-Americans at the Stanford Invitational four weeks later, Whipple was again honored by the Patriot League for her 15th-place performance with a time 21:18.

The Midshipmen defeated Army last Saturday in Annapolis, 21-38, to capture the N-Star and conclude the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record in dual-meet action.

Navy returns to action with the Patriot League Championship on Saturday, Oct. 28, at Colgate's Harry Lang Course in Hamilton, N.Y. Race time is scheduled for 11 a.m.