Nov. 18, 2012
BRONX, N.Y. - Led by a convincing seventh-place finish by Emma Slattery, the women's cross country team finished fourth at the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships on Saturday afternoon. The race, which was held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., saw 101 runners from 11 different universities compete. Saint Joseph's placed ahead of all other Atlantic 10 teams, including La Salle, Duquesne, and Temple and improved six places from its overall team finish from the 2011 ECACs.
Slattery crossed the finish line with a 5k time of 18:09.0, just 1.2 seconds behind the fifth-place finisher and 18.5 seconds behind the meet winner. The junior, who has led all SJU runners five times this season, improved on her time from last season's ECACs by 12 seconds.
Junior Erin James once again came through strong for the Hawks at the ECACs, clocking in at 18:17.6*, good for 11th place. An injury early on sidelined James for the first half of the season, but the junior has made quite the comeback, including a 19th-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championships and a team-best 39th-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. James now holds a new personal-best in the 5k, destroying her previous time set less than a month ago at the A-10s by 15.2 seconds. The time also gives James a new personal best at the ECACs as she improved on her 2011 time of 18:39 by 21.4 seconds.
Juniors Hannah Fuller and Elizabeth Barrett crossed the finish line in near simultaneous fashion for the Hawks with 31st- and 32nd-place finishes, respectively. Fuller checked in with a time of 18:52.6, while Barrett finished her first ECAC race with a time of 18:53.1.
Junior Emily Chappell closed out SJU's top five with a 40th-place finish. With a time of 19:01.2*, Chappell improved on her previous personal best in the 5k by 2.2 seconds and shattered her 19:28 time from the 2011 ECACs by 26.8 seconds.
For a complete list of all participants, click here.
The Hawks conclude their season after landing in the top half of their final four meets.
Note: "*" denotes personal-best time
