Sept. 2, 2005

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Nashville, Tenn. - The Memphis women's cross country team got everything they were looking for and a little more Friday evening at the Belmont Opener in Nashville, Tenn., as the squad finished sixth in a strong field of 14 teams from throughout the South.

The finish was just one spot behind perennial Conference USA power UAB, who placed third at last year's conference championships. The remaining four teams to outdistance the Lady Tigers were all dominant teams from the Southeastern Conference.

"I was very pleased with our effort for this early in the year," said Coach Jonas Holdeman. "It was a really relaxed meet, but with a strong field, and I felt like our team performed well."

The U of M squad was paced in the 4K race by Daniele Riendeau (Ottawa, Ontario). The junior, who is expected to be one of the top returners in C-USA, finished seventh overall in a time of 14:37.82. Riendeau's tally was just under 30 seconds off the winning time of 14:09.82 and positioned her ahead of UAB's Elizabeth Ambrus, who is the top returning runner in C-USA.

Freshman Emily Malinowski, (Slingerlands, NY), filled the second team spot, placing 14th overall in her first collegiate meet with a time of 14:57.82. Junior Mary Claire Dake (Knoxville, Tenn.) posted a solid effort, placing 50th overall with a time of 16:03.08. Freshman Meghan Shinkwin (Nashua, N.H.) and senior Nora Nemere (Budapest, Hungary) rounded out the top five for the U of M, finishing 59th and 65th, respectively, in times of 16:34.75 and 16:45.02.

Just behind the team's top five, Carolyn Corbett (Concord, N.H.) was 69th in 16:51.20, Sarah Janecek (Wahoo, Neb.) was 73rd in 16:58.99 and Becca McMahon (Londonderry, N.H.) was 77th in 17:14.28.

Overall, Coach Holdman was "incredibly happy" with the performances he saw from his runners.

"For a group that has only had two weeks of training as a team, everyone ran really well," Holdeman said.

The Lady Tigers will be right back in action next Saturday, Sept. 10, as they take part in the Memphis Twilight Classic, hosted by Christian Brothers University at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Germantown, Tenn. The collegiate women's three-mile race is set to begin at 8:30 p.m.