Temple University Athletics

Friday, September 1
Belmont Plateau
5:15 p.m.

Temple University

vs

Temple Invitational

WXC
Photo by: Austin Sullivan

Women's Cross Country Tops Competition at Temple Invitational

9.1.17 | Women's Cross Country

PHILADELPHIA – Temple women's cross country took first place in its season opener at Belmont Plateau. The squad hosted ECU, Tulane, and Southern New Hampshire for the Temple Invitational on Friday and placed three returnees in the top five. Sophomore Millie Howard surprised herself with a second place finish among the 34 participants.

Keys to the Race
> Howard logged a time of 22:08.1 in the 6K, just behind ECU's Grace Sullivan (22:05.5).
> Junior Katie Leisher (22:26.2) and sophomore Grace Moore (22:27.2) finished in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Race Notes
> Freshman Helene Gottlieb (11th) competed in her first-ever collegiate cross country race in the United States.
> The Temple Invitational served as a preview of Belmont's course for conference members Tulane and ECU before the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, hosted at Belmont Plateau on Oct. 28.
> The course at Belmont Plateau was designed by former Temple cross country/ track and field head coach Jack Saint Clair and began being used for college competitions in 1963.

Quotable
"I really surprised myself today. I was never good at cross country and today, in my first season opener actually competing, I finished first for Temple and second overall. I think today will get a good momentum going for our team to keep getting better as the season progresses. We have a talented group of girls and I am looking forward to what we can do." – Millie Howard

"This team has a shot at being in the top three in our conference championship in a couple months. Our young women have done a good job taking ownership of their training and the results are really beginning to show. One thing I took away from today is patience; we've been talking about running in a controlled form at the beginning of our races so that we can own the last two kilometers and we did a great job of that today. I'm looking forward to how we will progress in a few weeks." – Head coach James Snyder

Up Next
The Owls will next compete at the Rider Invitational on Sept. 15 in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Temple Results
Howard: 22:08.1
Leisher: 22:26.2
Moore: 22:27.2
Pinson: 22:52.7
Gottlieb: 23:10.7
Joyce: 23:31.9
Dunkley: 25:00.8
Rauscher: 25:29.6
 
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