Oct. 28, 2006

Results

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - At the 2006 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships at Schenley Park, the Xavier men's and women's cross country teams turned in outstanding performances. Despite the rainy conditions and high winds, the women's team turned in the program's best finish, earning fourth place, while the men's team finished in ninth place. Sophomore Becky Clark turned in the top time for the women's team with a time of 18:32.75, which placed her 14th overall. The men's top performer was sophomore Luke Beuerlein who finished in 34th place with a time of 26:32.20.

Clark was named to the A-10 All-Conference team for her 14th place finish. Senior Kelly Sraj took 16th place and crossed the finish line with a time of 18:38.45. Amanda Brown finished 19th, while Dani Meiners took 27th with times of 18:49.55 and 19:07.30, respectively. Rounding out the top five for the Musketeers was Kelsey Flaherty who turned in a time of 19:37.50, good enough for 46th.

Beuerlein led the way for the XU men with his 34th place finish. Following the sophomore were Ben Milroy, Clint Womack, Tony Matheus and Drew Kaiser. Milroy turned in a time of 26:36.55 to earn 37th place, which was 11 seconds faster than his time that placed him 17th at the 2004 championships. Womack crossed in a time of 26:45.30 to take 41st place and Matheus earned 60th place with a time of 27:10.80. The final spot for the XU men was turned in by the freshman Kaiser who notched a 63rd place finish in a time of 27:16.75.

The women's team continued to improve as the team has placed 10th, 7th, 5th and 4th over the last four respective championships. This year's team shaved 33 seconds off of their average team time from last season (19:25 in 2005 compared to 18:57 this year). The women's team also boasts three girls in the top 20 from today's race and will return 11 of 12 runners next season.

On the men's side, an improved time from the previous season did not reflect on the overall results as the conference has improved. The men's team recorded an average time of 2:14.21 this year and compared to their time of 2:14.29 in 2004 when the team took third place overall. The men's side will return every runner next season and the top seven runners will compete in two weeks at the NCAA Regionals.

The two teams will have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship at Bowling Green, Ohio. The Nov. 11 meet will allow the two teams to improve upon last year's finishes as the men placed a program-best 18th and the women placed a program-best 20th.