George Washington University

Oct. 13, 2002

State College, PA - The GW Cross Country teams faced some stiff competition yesterday at the Penn State National in State College, PA. Junior Dave Azari (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) was the top finisher for the men placing 17th out of 175 runners to lift the team to a 10th place finish out of 17 teams . Freshman Lindsay Blum (Holland, PA/Council) again led the women's team with a 72nd place finish out of 211 to help them finish 11th out of 19.

Azari finished the 5.2 mile course in 26:50.92, under a minute off the pace set by Eric Gillis of Canadian invite Speed River TC. Junior Darrell Andruski (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) continued his strong season with a 26th place finish and a time of 27:06.03, followed closely by senior David Talbird (Lookout Mountain, TN/McCallie School) who finished just seconds later in 40th place. Senior Matt Kascak (Summerville, SC/Summerville), coming off a nagging injury, managed a 95th place finish while freshmen Phil Sherman (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) finished off the scoring for the Colonials.

On the women's side, Blum ran the 6K course in 23:36.61. Sophomore Emily Jadwin (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) finished just seconds later in 81st place. Fellow sophomores Mary Beth McCullough (Brentwood, TN/Father Ryan) and Erin Patton (Saline, MI/Saline) were the next finishers with Trina Bolton (Avondale Estates, GA/The Lovett School) filling the fifth scoring slot.

The teams will be back in action this Saturday, October 19 at the Maryland Invitational in College Park, MD.

Top GW Men Finishers
17. Dave Azari, 26:50.92
26. Darrell Andruski, 27:06.03
40. David Talbird, 27:25.19
95. Matt Kascak, 28:38.09
110. Phil Sherman, 28:59.82

Top GW Women Finishers
72. Lindsay Blum, 23:36.61
81. Emily Jadwin, 23:52.43
86. Mary Beth McCullough, 23:58.55
94. Erin Patton, 24:05.51
102. Trina Bolton, 24:14.46

Men's Team Results
1. Speed River TC, 91
2. West Virginia, 95
3. Nittany Spiked Shoe, 98
4. Guelph, 113
5. Canisius, 120
6. Edinboro, 133
7. St. Francis, 145
8. Penn State, 149
9. Millersville, 211
10. George Washington, 242
11. Kutztown, 294
12. Indiana (PA), 321
13. Mount St. Mary's, 370
14. Robert Morris, 376
15. Messiah, 448
16. Howard, 458
17. St. Vincent, 471

Women's Team Results
1. Providence, 51
2. Villanova, 74
3. Penn State, 87
4. William & Mary, 96
5. West Virginia, 109
6. Tennessee, 115
7. Indiana (PA), 228
8. Guelph, 234
9. Edinboro, 276
10. St. Francis, 296
11. George Washington, 351
12. Kutztown, 366
13. Mount St. Mary's, 384
14. Messiah, 395
15. Canisius, 438
16. Millersville, 462
17. Howard, 474
18. Robert Morris, 578
19. St. Vincent, 603