Freshmen Lead Women’s Cross Country at Season-Opening Mount St. Mary’s 5K Duals

EMMITSBURG, Md. (September 2, 2016) – Freshmen stood as the team's top two finishers on Friday afternoon, as Julia Cormier (Northwood, N.H.) finished 58th and Rebecca Zylak (Goffstown, N.H.) placed 61st to lead the way for the Franklin Pierce University women's cross country team at the Mount St. Mary's 5K Duals. At the season-opening meet, the Ravens posted a victory over host Mount St. Mary's, while suffering defeats at the hands of American, Maryland and Maryland, Baltimore County.

Friday's meet was not scored in the traditional method of scoring cross country meets. Instead, each team was scored on a head-to-head basis against each of the other schools in attendance. Franklin Pierce posted a 26-33 win over Mount St. Mary's (with lower scores being better), while suffering identical, 15-50 defeats to its three other opponents. Maryland defeated all comers at the meet, posting a 4-0 record, while UMBC went 3-1 and American was 2-2 in front of the 1-3 Ravens, who outpaced Mount St. Mary's, which finished 0-4.

Individually, Cormier finished the 5K course in 20:53.9, while Zylak followed in 20:59.3, as the two placed 58th and 61st, respectively, in the 89-runner field. Sophomore Sarah Hart (Glastonbury, Conn.) was the lone remaining Raven to crack to the top 70, as she placed 70th, with a time of 21:22.8. Freshman Shaylyn Harrington (Pelham, N.H.) in 75th (22:15.2) and sophomore Caitlyn Leary (Tewksbury, Mass.) in 77th (22:32.6) rounded out the top five Franklin Pierce finishers on the day.

The Ravens return to action on Saturday, Sept. 10, when they travel to Northampton, Mass., for the Smith College Cross Country Invitational.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce cross country apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).