Oct. 4, 2006

The Duquesne women's cross country team is ranked 10th in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the United States Cross Country Coaches Association (USCCCA) poll for the week ending October 3. The Dukes were previously ranked 13th on the list.

Duquesne is coming off an 11th place finish at Lehigh's Paul Short Invitational Sept. 29. The event included 236 competitors from 35 teams. The Dukes placed five runners in the top 100 in the 6k event. Junior Amy Ruffolo paced the Dukes taking 55th with her time of 22:37. Sophomore Emily Beahan took 76th crossing in 22:31 followed by junior Samantha Howard (91st - 22:45), freshman Sara Cimino (94th - 22:47), freshman Katie Kelly (97th - 22:52)

This was the third consecutive impressive showing for the Dukes, as they placed fourth out of 34 teams at the 2006 National Catholic Cross Country Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Sept. 15. Ruffolo led the Dukes once again finishing 10th out of 267 participants in the 5k race with a time of 18:43. Beahan finished second for DU, 19th overall (19:13) followed by Cimino (19:22) and Kelly (19:25) who took 25th and 26th respectively. Junior Jenna Daggett finished 58th in 20:11 to complete the top five.

In their season opener, DU finished first in the Duquesne Duals held at the Schenley Oval Sept. 2. Howard had a personal best time of 18:01 and took first out of 66 runners. Five Dukes crossed in the top 10 en route to the 6-0 record as Ruffolo finished third - 18:40; Beahan fifth - 19:03; Daggett eighth - 19:25; and Cimino took ninth in her Duquesne debut with a time of 19:26.

The Dukes will next head to Indiana St. University in Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Pre-National Meet on Sat., Oct. 14. The race site is the LaVern Gibson Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. Most of the nation's top-ranked teams will be there to compete in what is a preview of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships which will be held the Monday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 20 at the same site.