W. Cross-Country follows Logan to first at Delaware

Both literally and figuratively following in the footsteps of the men's team -- which had just won its own race minutes before -- the Penn women's cross-country team won the Delaware Invitational on Saturday.

The Red and Blue trudged through mud, rocks and everything else that was blown in its path to victory.

Hurricane Isabel had swept through the Delaware course the day before the invitational and left the track in poor condition.

Freshman Emily Buzzell, while proud of her own third-place finish, was not pleased that the men's team had torn up all of the grass and left her and her teammates with muddy ground on which to run.

"It was pretty sloppy," she said. "The trail we had to run on was narrow, so it was challenging."

Coming off a second-place overall finish at the Fordham Invitational the previous weekend in New York, senior Emily Logan once again led the Quakers with a time of 19:04:96. Once again, that time was good for second place overall.

"The competition was the same as last week," Logan said. "Our whole team was right up in the front for the whole race."

Having rigorously trained as a large group during practice, it seemed natural for the Quakers to be running alongside each other for the majority of the race. Practices for the Red and Blue were particularly difficult this week, as they were sandwiched between a pair of Saturday meets.

The Quakers finished with 26 points, beating second-place Saint Joseph's by 30. The final score is the sum of the team's top five runners' finishing positions. The lowest score wins.

Following Logan were Buzzell, senior Elaina Lord, freshman Jennifer Blank and senior Kimberly Milans.

Buzzell, in just her second collegiate race, finished right behind Logan in 19:08:26.

Lord and Blank both crossed the finish line in a timely fashion, finishing in 19:15:69 and 19:17:69 respectively. They placed fifth and sixth, while Milans (19:33.80) finished 10th.

In spite of the unfavorable conditions, Buzzell emerged from the race with her second straight top-10 finish.

Logan was quick to applaud Buzzell and her other first-year teammates on their performances so far this season.

"I'm really impressed by how they've come in," Logan said. "They have been practicing hard and doing a really good job."

The Quakers should expect to continue their hard work throughout the upcoming weeks until their next race -- the Paul Short Run at Lehigh on Oct. 4. There they will face both Ivy League and non-league competition in a large field.

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