September 27, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount cross country knocks off Nazareth
by TOM UTESCHER

Last Tuesday Mount St. Joseph Academy improved its cross country record to 2-0 in Athletic Association of Catholic Academies meets, ringing up a 20-42 victory over the visiting Nazareth Academy Pandas (0-3).

Nazareth senior standout Meghan Lutz, who has won all of the dual meets she’s entered thus far, took first on Tuesday, but then Liz Welsh, Emma Pacheco, and Becky Tate led a string of six MSJ runners across the finish line to give the Magic a convincing victory.

The previous week, the Mount won its AACA opener over Merion Mercy, and over the weekend the team placed sixth at the Briarwood Invitational on Belmont Plateau [Germantown Friends placed third in the same race, led by sophomore Jasia Kaulbach who finished third in 20:33 over 3.1 miles].

Mount St. Joseph sophomore Tori Perri, who finished second to a senior from Ohio in the small schools race at the 2006 Briarwood, is recuperating from an injury and has not yet competed this fall. The defending AACA champion, Perri is expected to return to action later this season.

Last Tuesday at the Mount, Nazareth’s Lutz quickly separated herself from the pack and completed the 3.2-mile course in 19 minutes, 31 seconds. For a time, the finishers continued to be widely spaced, as Welsh, the Mount’s senior captain, came in second in 21:38, and Pacheco, a junior, wrapped up third place in 22:16. Tate, another MSJ upperclassman, was fourth in 22:47.

Things became more crowded in the 23-minute bracket, starting with a trio of Mounties: freshman McKenna Kardish (fourth; 23:09), sophomore Meghan Cheek (fifth; 23:16), and senior Sarah Collier (sixth; 23:19). Sinead Wasserbach became Nazareth’s second finisher (eighth overall), in 23:29, and after Magic sophomore Brionna O’Connor claimed ninth place (23:31), 10th place went to the Pandas’ Jessica Schuster (23:52) and 11th to Mount St. Joe freshman Kacie Farrell (23:58).

Rounding out the top 20 were: 12th – Nina Bissin (NAZ) 24:17, 13th – Christine McBride (MSJ) 24:30, 14th – Colleen Dalton (NAZ) 24:36, 15th – Erin Morgan (MSJ) 25:02, 16th Maureen Pedicino (MSJ) 25:07, 17th – Melissa Hegarty (MSJ) 25:23, 18th – Ekta Panjrocia (NAZ) 25:36, 19th – Emma Harnitcheck (MSJ) 25:47, 20th – Deirdre Kurtz (NAZ) 25:54.