George Washington University

Oct. 6, 2001

Men's and Women's Cross Country Both Place Second At East Carolina Talbird Finishes Fifth in Men's Race, McCullough Sixth in Women's

GREENVILLE, NC (Oct. 6, 2001) - Junior David Talbird (Lookout Mountain, TN/McCallie School) finished fifth out of 39 runners in the men's race and freshman Mary Beth McCullough (Brentwood, TN/Father Ryan) finished sixth out of 29 runners in the women's race to lead the Colonials to a pair of second place overall finishes at the Overton-Pirate Invitational this morning, Oct. 6, in Greenville, NC.

Talbird finished in 26:13, 23 seconds behind race winner, Chris Westerkamp, who ran unattached. Freshman Timothy Persico (Shavertown, PA/Scranton Prep) had perhaps his best race as a collegian by running a 26:48 and finishing in eighth place. Persico was followed by sophomore Darrell Andruski (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), who had a strong showing in just his second race this season after returning from an injury. Andruski finished ninth with a time of 26:49. Fellow sophomore David Azari (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) continued his strong season by finishing 12th with a time of 27:01.

On the women's side, McCullough led a group of four Colonials that placed in the top 13. McCullough improved on her time at the GW Invitational by 29 seconds, posting a 19:10 to pace GW for the fourth consecutive race. Sophomore Emily Jadwin (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Rutgers University) finished in eighth place, just three seconds behind McCullough, with a time of 19:13. Senior Jenee Peterson (Latham, NY/Shaker) and freshmen Erin Patton (Saline, MI/Saline) and Mary Caterina Bolton (Avondale Estates, GA/The Lovett School) claimed spots 11 through 13 with times of 19:24, 19:29.60 and 19:29.80, respectively.

Top GW Men finishers
5. David Talbird, 26:13
8. Tim Persico, 26:48
9. Darrell Andruski, 26:49
12. David Azari, 27:01
15. Chris Zurich, 27:17

Top GW Women finishers
6. Mary Beth McCullough, 19:10
8. Emily Jadwin, 19:13
11. Jenee Peterson, 19:24
12. Erin Patton, 19:29.60
13. Mary Caterina Bolton, 19:29.80

Women's Team Results East Carolina 23, GW 50, UNC-Wilmington 58, Howard 100