Campbell Clocks Milestone Time at Shippensburg

Catherine Campbell posted the second fastest time in school history (15:03) at the Shippensburg Invitational
Photo by James Rasp

Results

(Shippensburg, Pa.) - In their season opener hosted by Division II Shippensburg, the Dickinson College women's cross-country team put on a strong performance, narrowly falling to the home team and finishing well ahead of conference rival Gettysburg. Catherine Campbell (Carlisle, Pa./Trinity) kicked off her senior season by finishing in fourth place. Her time of 15:03 for 4000 meters (2.5 miles) was the tenth fastest in course history and the second fastest in school history.

Behind her, picking up where they left off after phenomenal rookie seasons, were Taylor Ludman (Willow Street, Pa./Solanco) and Emily Miller (Lenhartsville, Pa./Kutztown). Ludman ran 15:22 for 6^th,while Miller's time of 15:34 was good for 10^th. 

Perhaps the most promising development of the day, however, took place about 15 seconds behind Miller. That's where, in order, sophomores Annie Dyroff (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) and Sara Patterson (Houston, Texas), and first-year Sarah Rutkowski (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) finished.

At the 2010 national championships, the Dickinson women had a strong enough top three to finish in the top 15.  But their spread (time gap between first and last scorer) of 2:06 was the third worst in the 32-team field, and the Red Devils were relegated to 22^nd place. On Saturday, the spread from Campbell to Patterson and Rutkowski, who finished together, was a mere 49 seconds. This depth could bode extremely well for things to come.

Also of note were the Devils' seventh and eighth finishers; senior Merit O'Hare (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and first-year Tabea Zimmermann (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) were 19^th and 20^th overall, both with a time of 16:02. It was O'Hare's first cross-country race in nearly two years after spending her junior fall abroad, and a strong career debut for Zimmermann.

The Red Devils resume competition next Friday evening at 6:00 pm at Carlisle High School, where they host the Little Three Championship against Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall.