DUKES 2ND, PARRIS 3RD & NOBLES 4TH IN CAA CROSS COUNTRY

Saturday, October 31

New Market, Va.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

CAA Championship

10/31/2009 3:00:00 PM | Cross Country

NEW MARKET, Va., Oct. 31, 2009 - Four James Madison runners finished in the top nine Saturday morning to lead the Dukes to second place in the Colonial Athletic Association Women's Cross Country Championships run on JMU's home course at the New Market Battlefield.

William and Mary captured its seventh consecutive women's cross country title as the Tribe took a close win over JMU in the team standings.

W&M tallied 33 points, beating the Dukes by just seven points. Following JMU (40 points) in the team standings were George Mason (126), Delaware (127) and Towson (139).

JMU senior Alison Parris (Saint Leonard, Md./Patuxent) and freshman Stacey Nobles (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) finished third and fourth, respectively, providing the Dukes' top individual finishes since Dena Spickard won the 2006 race.

Parris improved on last season's seventh-place finish as she covered the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 55.6 seconds. Nobles completed the race in 21 minutes as she turned in a personal-best on a 6,000-meter course. Her previous PR was 21:53.1 at the Indiana State Pre-Nationals Meet on Oct. 17.

Emily Anderson of W&M defended the title she won last season, crossing the finish line first in 20:35.7. W&M's Meghan Burns was second in 20:49.1.

JMU's other top nine finishers were freshman Katie Gorman (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh), who placed eighth in 21:38.3, and freshman Katie Harman (Clarksville, Md./River Hills), who finished ninth in 21:39.1.

Parris, Nobles, Gorman and Harman earned All-CAA recognition for their top-12 finishes.

Four other Dukes' runners placed in the top 25. Sophomore Jess Zozos (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) finished 16th in 21:56.4; junior Kelly Jemison (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) was 20th in 22:06.7; freshman Anne Reiner (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) placed 21st in 22:07.1; and senior Lynne Colombo (Marlborough, Conn./RHAM) finished 24th in 22:26.6.

NOTE: JMU took second place in the CAA meet for the third year in a row and for the fifth time in the last six years. In 26 seasons of CAA cross country, the Dukes have won five championships (1995, 1999-2002) and have finished second 14 times (1984, 1990-93, 1996-98, 2003-05, 2007-09).