Princeton University
NCAA Championships
Kroshus Leads Princeton To Ninth Place Finish At NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
November 24, 2003 | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 24, 2003
Final Stats
Waterloo, Iowa - The temperatures were in the teens with wind chills near zero when the runners started their race. Princeton senior Emily Kroshus felt right at home.
Kroshus, who grew up running in the frigid sub-zero Canadian winters of Calgary, completed her Princeton cross country career with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA championship meet at the University of Iowa Monday afternoon.
Led by Kroshus, Princeton raced to ninth place in the team standings, finishing directly ahead of national powers Notre Dame and Villanova. Princeton also outran Ivy League rival Columbia, the Heptagonal champion, who finished 13th.
Stanford won the women's and men's championships.
"It was a great race to be in," said Kroshus. "Cross country is hard. You have women from all distance events in track competing. It makes it a tough field. My goal was to get in the Top 10, and I knew it would be tough." Kroshus covered the 6,000-meter course in 20:03.9, leaving her 33.5 seconds off the winning time of North Carolina's Shalane Flanagan. Sophomore Cack Ferrell finished 22nd in the race to earn All-America honors as well. Ferrell fell at the 800 meter mark and ultimately required stitches in her leg when the race was over.
"This was our first time here," Kroshus said. "To get in the Top 10, that's a huge testament to what we did. To beat teams like Notre Dame, who finished third last year. To beat Columbia. I think this sets a precedent for Princeton cross country. We have some great young runners, and I think we're building something that's going to last."
Princeton was competing as a team at the championships for only the second time, the first coming in 1982. Carrie Strickland finished 96th, followed by teammate Marian Birhle in 98th. Laura Petrillo was 125th.
9. 348 Princeton University
1 8 Emily Kroshus 685 20:03.9
2 21 Cack Ferrell 683 20:31.1
3 96 Carrie Strickland 694 21:22.4
4 98 Marian Bihrle 682 21:22.6
5 125 Laura Petrillo 690 21:37.3
6 (139) Meredith Lambert 686 21:47.1
7 (147) Pilar Marin 687 21:53.4