Amherst's Morrissey Places 19th at NCAA Cross Country Nationals; Partee Leads Women's Squad to a Seventh-Place Showing

November 21, 2005

DELAWARE, OH- Amherst College sophomore Tomas Morrissey (Astoria, OR) finished 19th at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships and classmate Kim Partee's (Brentwood, TN) 34th-place time led the women to a seventh place standing in the team trials hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at the Methodist Theological School and Dornoch Golf Club on Saturday. Both Morrissey's and Partee's performances in the race earned them All-America honors.

Morrissey crossed the line in 26:07.7, only 54 seconds behind tape-breaker Neal Holtschulte of Williams College, good for his first ever All-America outing. He was also named to the All-New England and all-conference teams this season and last, when he earned 2004 NESCAC Rookie of the Year plaudits.

On the women's side, Partee finished the 6k race in 23:00.3, 21 seconds ahead of junior Shauneen Garrahan (Fairfax Station, VA), who took 57th . Rookie Heather Wilson (Danvers, MA) and 2005 NESCAC Rookie of the Year Nicole Anderson (Kailua, HI) raced to 66th and 73rd places, respectively, completing the course only five seconds apart. First year Caitlin McDermott-Murphy (Newton, MA), sophomore Meg Ray (Menands, NY) and rookie Zandra Walton (Skaneateles, NY) rounded out the Jeffs' finishers at 86th, 144th, and 163rd.

Wisconsin-La Crosse claimed the men's team title while the SUNY Geneseo women edged perennial powerhouse Williams College to take home their school's first ever national team championship. Junior Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus grabbed the women's individual crown in 21:51.9.

AMHERST WOMEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

34. Kim Partee – 23:00.3
57. Shauneen Garrahan – 23:21.0
66. Heather Wilson – 23:32.9
73. Nicole Anderson – 22:37.9
86. Caitlin McDermott-Murphy – 24:22.1
144. Meg Ray – 24:28.7
163. Zandra Walton – 24:39.9

AMHERST MEN INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

19. Tomas Morrissey – 26:07.7

FULL RESULTS