Oct. 28, 2007

San Jose, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's and women's cross country teams ran at the WCC Championships Saturday with both running extremely well. The men took third place behind perennial power Portland and gave LMU a run for their money while defeating USF. The women took fourth, finishing behind Portland, USF, and LMU.

Senior Michael Delaurenti ran his best race ever at Crystal Springs, giving a serious challenge for the individual title before taking third place and All-WCC honors as well. Delaurenti finished with an 8k time of 25:27.

For the women, freshman Melissa Conlin was the top finisher for the Broncos, running a time of 21:48 in the 6k for 8th place in Adriane Puetz's absence. Conlin earned All-WCC Honors for her efforts.

After Delaurenti, the story for the men was youth. Freshman Chris Sampson and sophomore Alex Harkins both earned All-WCC Honorable mention for their 14th and 15th place respectively. Sampson ran a time of 25:58 and Harkins ran a 26:03. Freshman Robert Reid was not far behind his teammates, placing 17th with a time of 26:15. A.J. Blumel also showed signs of shaking off his recent back problems and was the fifth finisher for the team and 23rd overall with a time of 26:29.

For the women, Veronica Vazquez, Danielle Miller, and Annie Murphy-Hagan did a great job of running in a pack, finishing 16th, 17th, and 18th respectively. Vazquez had a time of 22:10, Miller ran a 22:12, and Murphy-Hagan clocked in with a 22:17. Whitney Porter ended up in 24th with a time of 22:47.

"Felipe [Montoro] and I are extremely proud of the way our men's and women's teams stepped up at the finals today," said head coach Tom Service. "They ran incredibly fast times on a challenging course. The top four teams in the WCC are very tough and we were right in the thick of things."

The first part of the championship season is now over. It's onto Eugene, Oreg. next as the team enters pre-qualifying.

RESULTS

Men
1. 3 154 Michael Delaurenti SR 25:27
2. 14 161 Chris Sampson FR 25:58
3. 15 156 Alex Harkins SO 26:03
4. 17 160 Robert Reid FR 26:15
5. 23 152 A.J. Blumel SR 26:29
6. ( 29) 159 Christopher Mosier FR 26:48
7. ( 30) 158 John Laughlin SO 26:50

Women
1. 8 142 Melissa Conlin FR 21:48
2. 16 150 Veronica Vazquez JR 22:10
3. 17 146 Danielle Miller SR 22:12
4. 18 147 Annie Murphy-Hagan SO 22:17
5. 24 148 Whitney Porter JR 22:47
6. ( 25) 145 Blossom Marimpietri SR 22:55
7. ( 29) 143 Gillian Fitch SO 23:34