For Immediate Release
September 2, 2000


Smith Wins High Point/Elon Invitational
RC Men Place Second, Women Take Forth Place in Greensboro

SALEM, VA— Roanoke College senior Casey Smith (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) won the Division II-II race at the annual High Point/Elon cross country Invitational in North Carolina on Saturday. Smith won the women’s race in 18:56, nearly 50 seconds better than the second place finisher. The RC women placed fourth out of 13 teams, while the Maroon men came in second (out of 14) behind the fifth place effort of junior Laurence Loesel (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring).

Smith led the Roanoke women across the line for the 28th consecutive time, dating back to the 1997 season. Her time of 18:56 was also the fastest opening race time for the Roanoke women in team history. In her first race with the RC cross country team, junior Alli McVey (Bowdoinham, ME/Mt. Ararat) placed sixth overall, finishing the race in 21:09. Liz Sullivan (Blacksburg, VA/Blacksburg) placed 12th (out of 85) in the race with a time of 21:41.

On the men’s side, Loesel was the fifth-best runner on the day, running the 8K race in 29:08. His time, along wit two other top 12 finishes, helped the men take second place out of 14 teams. In his first collegiate race, freshman Robert Welch (Seekonk, MA/Seekonk) was 10th. His time of 29:27 was 10 seconds better than teammate Will Stuart (Independence, VA/Grayson County) who was 12th in the race.

The Maroons head to the University of Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday, September 9th.