Sacred Heart
38th Annual Fairfield University Victor F. Leeber Cross Country Invitational
Women's Cross Country Cruises to First Ever Shutout of Field at Fairfield Invitational
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The first five runners to finish, and eight of the first ten, were Pioneers as the Sacred Heart women's cross-country cruised to its 15th ever Fairfield University Victor F. Leeber Cross Country Invitational title on Saturday morning. It is the first shutout in the history of the program for SHU, the 15th ranked team in the Northeast Region, as it earned the lowest possible total of 15 points to finish 56 point clear of second place Wagner.
"This is a slower course, so our concentration today was on placing well and controlling the team competition," said Head Coach Christian Morrison. "We have more important meets coming up, but this was a satisfying win for our women. I feel good about how the team is rounding into form. We're all excited to see how we can do in the coming weeks."
In its first three events of the season, Sacred Heart now has two team titles and three top-two finishes. The Pioneers started the year with its first ever season-opening win at the Stony Brook Invitational on September 5. The following weekend on September 12, SHU finished in second at the Bryant Invitational behind only eighth ranked Providence, who is also the top ranked team in the Northeast Region.
LIU Brooklyn's top two runners led the race early on, with a number of Fairfield and Wagner runners mixed into the top ten. Sacred Heart's top five moved in behind LIU's top two between the mile and 1 ½ mile mark, and started to pass them by the two-mile mark of the race. By 2 ½ miles, the Pioneers had taken complete control of the competition, and cruised to an easy victory.
For the third meet in a row, senior captain Shannon Hickey led SHU and in the process won her first career individual collegiate title in the field of 63. She becomes the 12th individual winner in program history at the event. Hickey had to hold off her teammate, Tara Connelly, as she finished the 5k course in 19:18.99. Connelly crossed seconds after in 19:23.27.
Alexandra Kaeslin, Jennifer Hahne, and Molly Barker placed third through fifth to secure the perfect score for the Pioneers. Kaeeslin ran the event in 19:35.47 while Hahne clocked in at 19:41.84. Barker had to hold off a runner from Wagner for fifth, finishing .47 seconds ahead of her in 19:44.59.
"It's great to have seniors like Shannon and Alexandra placing 1st and 3rd in the race today," commented Morrison "It's a tangible reward for all of the hard work they've put in during their time in our program."
Meghan Hutch, Emma Cary and Kate Svensen all turned in top ten performances as well. Hutch crossed in seventh with a time of 20:27.63, while Cary and Svensen finished back-to-back in ninth and tenth with times of 20:15.58 and 20:16.47.
Sacred Heart will take next weekend off before looking to carry the early season momentum into the 103rd Annual New England Cross Country Championships, which take place Saturday, October 10 at historic Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. In 2014, the Pioneers fourth place finish at the even tied for the highest ever in program history.
Players Mentioned
