Members of the cross country club (from left) Anna Edwards ’10, Crystal Collins ’10, Ana-Elisa Bryant ’11, Amy Overman ’10 and Laura Gandy ’08 pose for a photo before the start of the Division II/III Cross Country Championship on Oct. 6.

Shoe Problems Aside, Cross Country Runs at State Championship

From staff reports

More than halfway through the race, Laura Gandy gives a double thumbs up.

Sweet Briar’s Anna Edwards ’10 shaved nearly three minutes off her best 6K time of the season Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Virginia State Division II/III Cross Country Championship.

Edwards ran 34 minutes, 27 seconds for the 3.7-mile-long course, placing second for Sweet Briar and 43rd overall.

The day didn’t start off on such a good note, however, as the club was a little late leaving Sweet Briar and 10 minutes down the road sophomore Amy Overman yelled up to the front of the van: “Coach, I have two right shoes.”

Luckily, the club’s coach and advisor, Suzanne Ramsey, wears close to the same size as Overman, so they swapped shoes for the morning. As Overman sloshed around in her coach’s size-10 shoes, Ramsey cheered on the runners barefoot or in Overman’s flip-flops.

Overman went on to run 36:22, placing 49th overall.

Other finishers for Sweet Briar included Ana-Elisa Bryant ’11, 31:56 and 32nd place; Laura Gandy ’08, 36:39 and 50th place, and Crystal Collins ’10, in her first race ever, at 41:43 and 54th place.

The meet was held at Burtner Farm, near Harrisonburg, and was sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University. Other schools competing included Roanoke College, Randolph College, Mary Baldwin College, Eastern Mennonite University, Bridgewater College, Shenandoah University and Averett University.

For the past two months, the cross country club has met several times a week for practices and has run in meets hosted by Randolph College, Virginia Military Institute, Washington & Lee University and Longwood University.

The club will continue training throughout the fall and winter in preparation for the Charlottesville 10-miler on March 29, 2008. New members, including staff and faculty who would like to run with the group, are welcome at any time and no experience is necessary.

For more information, contact Ramsey at sramsey@sbc.edu .