University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's XC Back In Action At Battle In Beantown
September 24, 2014 | Women's Cross Country
| Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown (5K) |
||
| Date | Friday, September 26, 2014 | |
| Location | Franklin Park, Boston, Mass. | |
| Teams | Boston College, Connecticut, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Fordham, Georgetown, Hartford, Harvard, John Hopkins, Lipscomb, UMass, Michigan, New Hampshire, Providence, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, and Syracuse | |
| Results | Timing by FTO, results available following the meet on UMassAthletics.com | |
| Notes |
||
Honors Rachel Hilliard received honors following her performance in the Minutemen Invitational. The senior was named co-UMass Athlete of the Week and the Atlantic 10 Women's Cross Country Performer of the week. Hilliard lead the Minutewomen across the line, finishing fifth out of 125 competitors with a time of 17:12 (5K). Debut Performances Six of the ten freshmen Minutewomen had their collegiate debut at the Minuteman Invitational (9/13). Kacie Quinn finished sixth for the team and 47th overall with a time of 18:55. Next came Colleen Sands to finish seventh for the team and 54th overall with a time of 19:07. Anna Capps crossed the line at 19:11 to finish ninth for the Minutewomen and 56th overall. Callie Hansson (10th for the team, 73rd overall) debuted with a time of 19:39. Renee Capps (11th for the team, 78th overall) with her time of 19:47 and Samantha Allen (12th for the team, 84th overall) at 19:54 round out the freshmen finishes. Next Up - The UMass Women will be facing off at the Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown Friday, Sept. 26 against a crowd of strong competitors. The gun is scheduled to go off at 3:00 PM in Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. Weather for race day is expected to be favorable: 73 degrees with 9 mph winds. The UMass women will be going head to head with the likes of Michigan (first nationally), Georgetown (fifth nationally), Syracuse (14th nationally), Boston College (17th nationally), Providence (18th nationally), and Dartmouth (25th nationally). The UMass women will also face regionally ranked competitors such as Cornell (fifth in the Northeast), Duke (fifth in the Southeast), New Hampshire (sixth in the Northeast), Harvard (eighth in the Northeast), Stony Brook (ninth in the Northeast), and Eastern Michigan (10th in the Great Lakes). The Minutewomen will have a week following their performance on Friday, Sept. 26 to prepare for their next competition. After their battle in beantown the women will be back at it on Saturday, October 4 the following weekend. The women will compete in the Paul Short Invitational held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. Who's Back
- UMass returns 13 members of its 2013 squad that competed in at least one meet last fall. Among the Minutewomen back for 2014 are six of the team's top-seven finishers from last year's conference championship, including senior Rachel Hilliard and sophomore Christine Davis.
- Hilliard was the top finisher for UMass in six of seven meets last fall, including a 19th place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship. She took 12th at last year's Minuteman Invitational.

 New Faces
- UMass has added 10 freshmen to the roster for 2014, all hailing from the Bay State. Samantha Allen, Leila Aruri, Grace Bailly, Anna Capps, Renee Capps, Callie Hansson, Sydney May, Kacie Quinn, Meg Rodowicz and Colleen Sands join the Minutewomen this fall. At The Helm
- Head coach Julie LaFreniere enters her 28th year at the helm of the women's cross country and track and field programs at UMass in 2014-15. LaFreniere has accumulated several coaching and team accolades during her tenure with the Minutewomen. The 1977 UMass graduate has been named the Atlantic 10 women's cross country Coach of the Year six times (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999) and has led the Minutewomen to seven A-10 cross country championships. Captains Named - Senior Katie Powers and redshirt senior Alexandra Purdue-Smithe will lead the Minutewomen as co-captains for UMass women's cross country in 2014. - Powers competed in all seven meets last season as a junior, scoring in four, with her top finish of the season coming at the CCSU Mini-Meet where she took second on the team and ninth overall with a time of 10:19.41 in the 3K. The native of Holbrook, Mass., is coming off an outstanding outdoor track & field season that saw her help the Minutewomen's 4x800 team to an A-10 Gold and third consecutive New England crown in the event. - Purdue-Smithe saw action in every race for UMass in 2013, scoring in all seven, while finishing in the team's top-three five times. The Sharon, Mass., native placed third on the team and 31st overall at the Atlantic 10 Championships last fall with a time of 18:05.5. She holds the fourth-fastest 10,000 meter time in the program's track and field record book, 37:23.57. Preseason Predictions UMass was tabbed sixth out of 14 teams in the 2014 Atlantic 10 preseason poll, coming off a fifth-place finish at the 2013 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Minutewomen trailed only Duquesne, Richmond, La Salle, Saint Louis and Dayton on the list.
- The 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship will be held on Nov. 1, at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. |
||
Players Mentioned
