WATERLOO, IOWA., NOV. 24, 2003- The No. 18 ranked Penn State women¡¯s cross country team finished 23rd at the NCAA Championships at Irv Warren Park in Waterloo, Iowa today.

The Nittany Lions improved upon last year¡¯s 25th place finish (568 points) with a score of 510 points.

Stanford, ranked No. 2, won the national title with a total of 120 points. The No. 1 ranked Brigham Young team was second (128 points). The No. 8 Providence team came in third with 222 points.

North Carolina senior, Shalene Flanaghan, was the individual champion finishing in a time of 19:30.4. Providence junior Kim Smith took second (19:42.7) and Stanford junior Sarah Bei was third in a time of 19:49.1.

Junior Molly Landreth (Newburyport/Newburyport, Mass.) was Penn State¡¯s top finisher, as she has been in every race this season, finishing 56th in a time of 20:55.9 despite being tripped. This is the second year in a row that Penn State¡¯s lead runner has been tripped during the race. Landreth finished 134th in the 2002 NCAA Championships.

Landreth was named Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Week twice this season, won the Penn State Spike Shoe, broke a Blue/White course record at the Penn State National, took fourth at the Big Ten Championships and finished fourth at the Mid-Atlantic Regional. She was also named to the first team All-Big Ten Team.

Senior co-captain Maureen Thomas (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.) was the next Nittany Lion across the line finishing 131st in a time of 21:26.1.

Sophomore Jenny Stevens (Manchester Central/Hookset, N.H.) finished 143rd improving upon her 161st finish in 2002. Stevens made a big impact for the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Championships on Nov. 2 finishing in the top 10, and was named to the second team All-Big Ten Team.

Junior Michelle Wale (Pine Bush/Pine Bush, N.Y.) came in 147th in a time of 21:32.7. Wale is no stranger to the NCAA Championships. She has competed in the Championships every year of her career at Penn State finishing 134th in 2001 and 107th in 2002.

Rounding out the scoring for the Nittany Lions was senior Tara Johnson (Boston Univ./Glenolden, Pa.) who took 171st with a time of 21:45.4.

Also placing for Penn State was junior Chelsea Lenge (Conard West/West Hartford, Conn.) coming in at 211th (22:10.9) and sophomore Tracey Brauksieck (Homer/Homer, N.Y.) finishing 224th (22:20.8). Brauksieck was Penn State¡¯s top runner in 2002 and finished 73rd at the 2002 NCAA Championships despite being tripped in the race as Landreth was this year.

Other Big Ten teams competing in the Championships included No. 6 ranked Michigan (4th), No. 12 ranked Michigan State (17th), Wisconsin (26th) and No. 24 ranked Indiana (27th).

Other Mid-Atlantic Region teams competing included No. 14 Princeton (9th), No. 15 Villanova (11th) and No. 10 Georgetown (16th).