Teams: Women's Cross Country: Press Releases

Tuesday, September 18, 2006

O'BRIEN TABBED NESCAC CROSS COUNTRY PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

MEDFORD -- Senior tri-captain Katy O'Brien (North Easton, MA) of the Tufts University women's cross country team is off to a sensational start in 2007. After winning the Trinity College Invitational to open the season on September 8, she took second place at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Shriners' Invitational this past Saturday (Sept. 15). The effort earned her this week's New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Performer of the Week honors.

O'Brien's time of 18 minutes, 11 seconds over the five-kilometer course at UMass Dartmouth was just ahead of Amherst's Elise Tropiano (18:16) for NESCAC-best in the race. The race featured 222 entrants overall. Her runner-up finish helped Tufts take eighth as a team out of 29. This is the first season that NESCAC has honored its cross country racers with weekly awards.

This was the third year that Coach Kristen Morwick's team ran at UMass Dartmouth. O'Brien's time is the best for the Jumbos ever at the meet. Fellow tri-captain Cat Beck (Brookline, NH) ran an 18:40 as a sophomore in 2005.

O'Brien was the NESCAC champion last season, running a time of 22:49 over six kilometers in Waterford, Connecticut. She was 16th in the NCAA Division III championship race last season.

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