The NCAA News - News and Features

December 1, 1997

Steady Cortland State wins women's cross country again

Since winning its first team title in 1989, Cortland State's women's cross country team has not gone two years without winning a championship. The Red Dragons kept that string intact November 22 at MIT.

Mickey Kelly and Cindy Lauzon each garnered top-20 individual finishes and Cortland State amassed 148 points to win the Division III Women's Cross Country Championships team title.

Cortland State, which placed eighth in 1996, outdistanced runner-up Wisconsin-Eau Claire by 19 points to claim its fifth title in six years and championships-record seventh overall.

The runner-up finish was Wisconsin-Eau Claire's best ever.

Middlebury, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and College of New Jersey rounded out the top five.

Tiffany Speckman of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the individual crown.

With its victory, Cortland State became only the fourth Division III women's program to win at least seven team titles in a sport. Kenyon, with 14 titles in swimming; College of New Jersey, with eight titles each in field hockey and lacrosse; and Washington (Missouri), with seven titles in volleyball, are the only other programs to win at least seven team championships.

Kelly and Lauzon set the pace for the Red Dragons, finishing 10th and 16th, respectively. Kelly covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:58, while Lauzon clocked in at 19:06.

Theresa Trudell, Jen Bozek and Theresa Garofalo accounted for the remainder of the Red Dragons' team score. Trudell finished 31st overall, while Bozek and Garofalo placed 75th and 97th, respectively.

Speckman, who placed 17th at the 1996 event, posted a time of 18:29 to outdistance runner-up Sarah Anderson of rival Wisconsin-Superior by six seconds. Speckman is the second Titans competitor to win a title. Laura Horejs won the crown in 1991.