Deacons Prepare for ISU Pre-Nationals
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 16, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The women's team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., this weekend to compete in the Indiana State Pre-Nationals meet. The Deacons will have an opportunity to race the same 6-kilometer LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center that will be traversed for the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 23.
The Wake Forest women's team, which has consistently been earning votes in the national polls all season, will be one of the 152 squads competing in this vast collegiate meet. In the women's race, 18 of the top 30 squads in the nation are slated to race.
Due to the size of the meet, the event is divided into multiple sections. The men's blue and white races will kick off the day's events at 11:00 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. Wake Forest will then compete in one of the two seeded women's races. The women's blue race will begin at 12:20 p.m., and the women's white race will follow at 12:55 p.m. The open races for the men's and women's competitors will conclude the event.
"The team is excited for the competition and they are going to capitalize on this opportunity to race the top teams in the country," head coach Annie Bennett said before the squad left for Indiana.
Wake Forest is traveling a very young and talented group to the meet. Running for the Deacs will be: Marley Burns, Suzie Clinchy, Caitlin Crawford, Whitney Curry, Casey Fowler, Claire Hagler and Hannah McArdle.
Sophomore Anna Nosenko has led Wake Forest in each of the three meets she has competed in this season: the Wake Forest Relays, the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational and the Brooks Paul Short Run. She also captured the individual titles at the Wake Forest Relays and Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.
Sophomore Dina Nosenko has never finished far behind her twin sister, garnering second-place Wake Forest finishes in the same three meets. Junior Marley Burns has consistently rounded out the top three for the Deacons this year.
Coming off a strong performance at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 2 is redshirt sophomore Caitlin Crawford. She ran well at the team's first 6K of the season, finishing 91st overall in a field of 362 runners and scoring fourth for the Deacons.
Also running is redshirt freshman Casey Fowler. Among a group of gifted newcomers, the Richmond, Va., native has made an immediate impact during her first cross country season for the Deacons, scoring fifth or higher for Wake Forest in all of the meets in which she has competed.
None of the traveling harriers have ever competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The only Deacon on this youthful women's team to have raced in the NCAAs is redshirt junior Kelly Polisin. Polisin, a redshirt junior from Summit, N.J, ran the course her freshman year, finishing in 24 minutes flat for a sixth-place team finish. She has been sidelined this season due to an injury.
The Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday is significant for many of the teams competing, as squads are looking to gain more points against inter-region opponents before it becomes time to select the at-large bids for the NCAA Championships.
For results from the ISU Pre-Nationals, as well as the Blue Ridge Open, please go to WakeForestSports.com.
Players Mentioned
