DUKES SIXTH, PARRIS NINTH IN NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTHEAST REGION

Saturday, November 14

Louisville, Ky.

11:45 a.m.

James Madison University

NCAA Southeast Regional Championship

DUKES SIXTH, PARRIS NINTH IN NCAA CROSS COUNTRY SOUTHEAST REGION

11/14/2009 9:00:00 PM | Cross Country

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 14, 2009 -- James Madison senior Alison Parris (Saint Leonard, Md./Patuxent) placed ninth Saturday as she led the Dukes to a sixth-place team finish at the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championships at Louisville's Tom Sawyer Park.

Parris completed the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 41.5 seconds, her fastest time ever on a 6K course. Her previous personal-best was 20:46 at last month's Paul Short Run.

The Dukes placed sixth in the 35-team field as JMU recorded its best regional finish since its fourth-place finish in 2001.

Duke, ranked 15th in the latest national coaches poll, won the team title with 69 points. Virginia, ranked 19th nationally, was the runner-up with 113 points. In third was North Carolina State (135), followed by William and Mary (145), North Carolina (167) and JMU (225).

Virginia junior Catherine White was the individual champion as she crossed the finish line in 20:03.9.

Parris is the first JMU runner to record a top-10 regional finish since Shannon Saunders placed fourth in 2004. She joins an elite group of four other Dukes' runners who have finished in the top 10 in the regional meet. Others were Bethany Eigel (second in 1997, eighth in 1996), Heather Hanscom (ninth in 1998), Mollie DeFrancesco (fifth in 2002, ninth in 2001) and Saunders.

Parris earned all-region recognition for her finish in Saturday's meet.

Four other JMU competitors placed in the top 100 in the race. Freshman Stacey Nobles (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) finished 32nd in 21:34.2, and freshman Anne Reiner (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) placed 51st in 21:59.6. In 53rd place was freshman Katie Gorman (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh), who completed the course in 22:02.0. Junior Kelly Jemison (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) finished 83rd in 22:30.6.

The other members of the Dukes' sixth-place team were sophomore Jess Zozos (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler), who placed 108th in 22:52, and freshman Katie Harman (Clarksville, Md./River Hills), who finished 130th in 23:09.2.

There were 237 runners who completed the race.

The top two teams in each of the nine regional championship meets automatically qualify for the NCAA National Championships. Thirteen additional at-large teams will also be selected for the national meet.

The top four individual finishers in each region not on a qualifying team automatically qualify for nationals. Two additional at-large individuals will also be selected.

The at-large invitations will be announced on the NCAA website Sunday (Nov. 15) no later than 7 p.m. ET.