Nov. 13, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - For the second consecutive year, and the third time in the team's history, the Purdue women's cross country squad will send a representative to the NCAA Championships. Senior harrier Lindsay Zinn joined Amber Ferner (2004) and Becky Cotta (1982) as the only Boilermaker females to qualify for the NCAA Championships in cross country.
In Saturday's NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships in Bloomington, Ind., Zinn recorded an 11th-place finish in the 6,000-meter event. Zinn's time of 21:32.3 is the third-fastest time put in by a Boilermaker female during a 6k NCAA regional, behind only Ferner (20:54.2 in 2004) and Kara Lahey (21:11.2 in 2004).
The women's individual champion was Victoria Mitchell of Butler. Her time of 20:37.0 was the only sub-21:00 time in the event, finishing ahead of second place by 23 seconds.
Purdue's women finished ninth at the region championships in the team standings, the best showing for the Boilermaker women since placing eighth in 2001. Purdue scored 234 points, just four behind eighth-place Toledo, while Michigan. the 2005 Big Ten champion, claimed the team regional championship with 52 points. Other Big Ten schools in the race were Wisconsin (3rd, 142), Michigan State (5th, 182), Indiana (7th, 219), and Ohio State (16th, 472). A total of 32 teams competed in the event.
Senior Corrie Whisner finished second among Boilermakers, placing 30th with a time of 22:10.4, while sophomore Carrie Fett's time of 22:33.8 was goot for third among Purdue runners and 47th overall. Senior Kaleena Cappel was 54th in the race with a time of 22:42.8, and freshman Elle Lammers rounded the Purdue scoring top five with a 92nd-place 23:21.0.
Other Boilermaker women in the regional event were seniors Laura Farley and Brooke Woodruff. Farley's time of 23:24.9 was good for 94th in the overall standings, while Woodruff ran a 23:31.2 for 101st. There were 220 runners in the race.
On the men's side, the Boilermakers scored 312 points for a 12th-place showing, the squad's best showing since placing 10th in 2002. The men's team champion was Wisconsin, which scored 49 points. Wisconsin was also the 2005 Big Ten champion. Other Big Ten teams in the mix were Ohio State (3rd, 119), Indiana (6th, 172), Michigan State (7th, 203) and Michigan (8th, 209). A total of 30 teams participated in the event.
Senior David Rae was the top runner for the Boilermakers, finishing 43rd overall with a time in the 10k event of 32:33.3, followed by sophomore Eric Hammond's 32:44.2 for 53rd. Junior Justin Stadt edged teammate Michial Jacob, a senior, across the line as the pair placed 67th and 68th. Stadt ran a time of 33:07.4, while Jacob was less than 1/2-second behind at 33:07.8.
Junior Justin Gauthier was the fifth Boilermaker scoring runner across the line, finishing 91st with a clocking of 33:29.5, while sophomore Zach Wilder ran a 34:51.1 for 123rd. A total of 195 individuals competed in the event.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held on Monday, Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Ind., with Indiana State University playing host. The event will the run at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, with the women's race starting at 1:15 p.m.