Courtney Garrity paces the Raven effort with a 22^nd-place finish

NASHUA, N.H. (September 21, 2007) - The Franklin Pierce University women's cross country team finished seventh out of 11 teams at the 2007 Rivier Cross Country Invitational, hosted by Rivier College, on Friday afternoon.

Junior captain Courtney Garrity (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) led the way for the Ravens, finishing first among Franklin Pierce runners and 22^nd overall with a time of 23:19:00. Garrity, who was the only runner to have run at Rivier previously, improved on her 2005 time by 19 seconds on Friday.

Three other Ravens cracked the top 50 on Friday, beginning with freshman Sonja Foster (Newport, Vt./United Christian Academy), who finished in 37^th place with a time of 25:28. Following close behind were sophomore Catalina Reed (Pembroke, Mass./Sacred Heart) in 40^th place (25:32) and junior Francesca Santoro (Medford, Mass./Medford) in 49^th place (26:09).

Saint Anselm won the meet with a team total of 42 points, while New Hampshire Technical Institute's Heather Sterls took the individual title with a time of 20:18.

Franklin Pierce will return to competition next Saturday, when the Ravens take part in the Pop Crowell Invitational, hosted by Gordon College, beginning at 10:45 a.m.