NCAA Pre-Nationals 2005

Collins Hill (Ga.) junior Drouin Jackie finished first in the Sandhills Invitational girl\'s varsity race. Drouin covered the course in 18:29 with South Carolina\'s first runner being Chrystal Haire of Westminster Catawba, a member of the NCISAA. Haire (second), a senior finished ahead of the strength of Mauldin High runners Alyssa Kulik (third), Hannah Morgan (fourth) and Lauren Klas (fifth) in 18:39.

The University of Texas - Pan American men\'s and women\'s cross country teams were both in action on Saturday (Oct. 15), with the men finishing 28th in the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, IN and the women finishing second at the Texas Lutheran Invitational in Seguin, TX.

Rice senior Marcel Hewamudalige placed fifth in the men\'s \"Blue\" race at the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday as the Owls finished 27th as a team. The Pre-Nationals meet is annually one of the largest meets in the nation and is run over the same eight-kilometer course that will be used for the NCAA championships in November.

At the NCAA Division I Pre-Nationals held at Indiana State University, Liberty sophomore Josh McDougal won the men\'s white race in a time of 23:12.6 by a decisive 20 second margin over many of the nation\'s top individual runners. McDougal\'s time broke the eight kilometer course record set earlier in the day by BYU\'s Josh Rohatinsky in the men\'s blue race as the Liberty sophomore now has to be considered one of the favorites to win the NCAA National Championship crown in November. Meanwhile, the nationally ranked William & Mary men and University of Virgina men and women\'s programs all had strong team finishes to validate their current nationally ranked and even possibly help them move further up in the national polls. The William & Mary men finished sixth (219 pts) in the white race with a 24:32 team average. The #15 ranked Tribe finished one point behind #16 ranked Portland (5th place), while upsetting #8 ranked Iona (9th place). The University of Virginia Men finished sixth (252 pts) as well in the blue division with a 24:36 team average. The #29 ranked Hoos upset four higher ranked teams including #17 Florida State, #21 Indiana, #18 Ohio State, and #10 Cal-Poly SLO. The UVA women finished eighth (313 pts) in the blue division with a 21:29 team average. The #22 ranked Lady Hoos finished ahead of #21 Butler (11th place) and just behind #24 ranked Northern Arizona (7th).

Running a week later made a big difference in the weather, and LaSalle took advantage, getting 2nd at the Eastern States Championships at Van Cortlandt Park. Katherine Ward won her home invitational in State College, her 4th meet win of the season, Altoona won the Girls\' team title. In the boys\' race, State College held off Chambersburg, but C-burg\'s Tommy Taylor took 1st. (Photo of boys varsity at 10/15 State College Invitational - by Karen Ward)