Maryland To Host Sole Meet Of 2003 Season - University of Maryland Athletics

Oct. 9, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The women's cross country team, who divided to compete in two separate races last weekend, will reunite and join with the men's team to run in this year's Maryland Invitational on Oct. 11. The annual Invitational, held at the University Golf Course, is the Terps' sole home meet of the season. Though Maryland teams swept second place at last year's meet, expectations for an even stronger performance are high.

The 2003 Maryland Invitational

This year's meet will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11, at the University Golf Course. The women's 5K race will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 8K competition at 9:45 a.m. The course opens for viewing before the women's race, from 7:30-8:30 a.m.

The event will feature a number of teams from across the Northeast. American is the highest-ranked women's program in the meet, coming in at No. 6 in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Terps are ranked No. 9, however, and are poised to move up after a solid competition this weekend.

The meet serves as final preparation before the Terps travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the Pre-NCAA Meet on Oct. 18.

Complete results from the Maryland Invitational will be available on www.umterps.com following the Saturday's competition.

Looking to Lead

Senior Mike Prada (Fulton, Md.) is poised for a big finish this weekend, after coming off a week's rest from competition. Head Coach Trent Sanderson kept Prada out of last weekend's Paul Short Invitational in an attempt to save him for the Maryland Invitational. Prada was the Terps' top finisher last year, coming in fourth in the 8K race.

The Terp women will need someone to step up this weekend, as sophomore frontrunner Katie Purcell (Coraopolis) is still out of the running with mononucleosis. Senior Kim Smith (Glastonbury, Conn.) and sophomore Allison Carney (Las Vegas, Nev.), along with the rest of the women's squad, have posted strong performances so far this season and will contend for top positions.

Flashback to the 2002 Maryland Invitational

American swept the men's and women's team and individual races.

Purcell and Cori Koch (Lutherville, Md.) completed their fourth races at the front of the Maryland pack. Purcell broke 19 minutes in the 5,000 meter race, with a 18:23 and fourth overall. Koch finished right behind her in fifth place with a 18:38. Also finishing in the top 15 were Smith in ninth, Amie Shomette (Monrovia, Md.) in 11th and Andrea Stehman (Indianapolis, Ind.) in 14th.

On the men's side, Prada paced the Terps with a fourth place finish in the 8,000 meter race. His time of 25:45 was more than two minutes faster than his time at the 2001 Invitational. Then-sophomores Adam Ambrus (Shamong, N.J.) and Matt Adami (Mt. Airy, Md.) came in eighth and 11th place, respectively. Also showing improvement, both men shaved nearly two minutes off their times from the previous year's meet.

Recapping Last Weekend

The Terp men finished 14th out of 33 teams at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa. The top finisher was Ambrus with a time of 25:07.23 to take 24th place in a field of 233 runners. Also finishing in the top 100 in the 8K race were freshmen Peter Hess (Toms River, N.J.), who finished in 50th place and Michael Porter (Fredericksburg, Va.), who came in at No. 83.

First across the finish line for the Terps at Paul Short was sophomore Danielle Siebert (Chalfont, Pa.), who took 30th place with a time of 21:55.84 to help the Terps to a ninth-place finish. A total of five of the six Maryland runners finished in the top 100 in the field of 224 runners. Smith secured 37th place (22:06.27), followed by freshman Laurel Jefferson in 46th (22:17.03), Koch, who finished at No. 83 (22:46.61) and junior Courtney Fiorovanti in 94th place and a time of 22:55.95.

At the Maryland Championships, the women's reserves placed fifth in the field of nine.

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