University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Women's Cross Country Opens 2014 Season Friday at Lehigh Invitational
8/28/2014 9:10:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Coming off one of its finest seasons in over a decade, the University of Delaware women's cross country team will open another promising season Friday when the Blue Hens take part in the Lehigh Invitational at the Goodman Cross Country Course.
The women's six-kilometer race will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men's six-kilometer competition at 6:15 p.m.
Delaware, led by head coach Wendy McFarlane, will take a team of 18 student-athletes to the meet, which will include nine teams competing. In addition to Delaware and host Lehigh, also competing will be DeSales, LIU Brooklyn, Moravian, Muhlenberg, Scranton, Ursinus, and West Virginia.
The Blue Hens return nine letterwinners from last year's team that placed third in the Colonial Athletic Association championships for the second straight year. The Hens also placed fourth at the ECAC Championships and eighth at the NCAA District Championships. Those finishes were the best in the ECAC since 1991 and the best at the NCAA Districts since 2009.
“I am very anxious to see how the seasons will unfold with the new era of athletes we have joining the team this year,” said McFarlane, the Hens' third-year coach who led the UD outdoor track and field squad to the CAA title a year ago. “Our goal for the cross country season is to improve on last year's performances and maintain a top three team place in the CAA.”
Delaware will need to replace four-year standout, 2014 UD Outstanding Female Athlete of Year, and CoSIDA Academic All-American Lindsay Prettyman, who led the team in five meets a year ago when she became just the third runner in UD history to compete at the NCAA Championships. She was the team Most Valuable Player each of her final three seasons.
Leading the returnees are senior Katrina Steenkamer, who placed 25th at the CAA meet a year ago, junior Nicole Daly, who was 19th at the CAAs, and senior Melissa Mazzo. The top newcomer is freshman Adrienne Fraczkowski, who finished second at the 2013 DIAA state cross country championships and went on to win the state title in the indoor mile and two-mile and the outdoor two-mile run at Delaware Military Academy.
Delaware is ranked No. 8 in the preseason U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Region poll announced earlier this week.
Players Mentioned
