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'xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />October 24, 2003

Contact: Amanda Brickell

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HAMILTON, N.Y. ‘ The ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ men’s and women’s cross country teams are gearing up to compete in the Patriot League Championships at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. on Nov. 1.

The men’s team is led by two-time Patriot League Runner of the Week Xavier deBoissezon (Geneva, Swit.).  deBoissezon has taken home the gold in three of the Raiders four races this season.  The Raiders are slated to finish fifth in the league according to the Patriot League pre-season poll and head coach Art McKinnon thinks a fifth place finish is a realistic projection for his team.

 â€˜¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ has the best men’s cross country team ever,’ said McKinnon, ‘but the league has gotten so strong that all the ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ runners could set personal records and have an outstanding day and still have the worst team finish by a ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ cross country team.’

Six of the eight teams in the league are ranked regionally and there is no clear winner heading into the race.  The Patriot League title is up for grabs and McKinnon will be depending on deBoissezon, senior Louis DiNuzzo (Loudonville, N.Y.), and sophomore Sean Curran (Saratoga Spring, N.Y.) to finish in the top-20.  Senior Kyle Barrett (Troy, N.Y.), freshman Mike Hanlon (Ann Arbor, Mich.), and sophomore Jake Krong (Amsterdam, N.Y.) are expected to finish in the top-30.

On the women’s side head coach Laura Nardelli has high hopes for her young team. ‘We hope to put one runner in the top-five, which would be the highest ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ individual finish ever,’ said Nardelli.  That runner is freshman Danielle Whicher (North Reading, Mass.).  Whicher has been ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s top-finisher in all four races this season, taking first in the 4200 at ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s Harry Lang Invitational, and most recently taking fourth at the Leopard Invitational with a personal best time of 20:57.

‘The Patriot League Championship will be a tight race for second through potentially sixth place,’ said Nardelli.  â€˜We feel confident that we will beat Holy Cross and Lafayette, and Lehigh and Bucknell remain within reach at this point.  Army and Navy are both very strong, and American dominates the league at this point.’ 

The Raiders will depend on strong performances from Whicher, sophomores Sarah Hildebrand (Fairport, N.Y.), Emily Tansey (Scituate, Mass.), and Lia Cross (Skaneateles, N.Y.), as well as freshmen Meaghan McAnaney (Syracuse, N.Y.), Hannah Failing (Deefield, N.Y.), and Nicole Christoforo (Rockland, Mass.).  â€˜All of our top-seven runners are freshman and sophomores, so this is an exciting place to be for our team right now,’ said Nardelli.

The championships will be held on Metzgar Fields at Lafayette College.  The men’s race is set to start at 11 a.m. and the women will follow at noon.