Junior Maura Frauenhofer posted a personal-best time of
18:31 and finished 10th overall to help lead the Canisius women's cross country
team to a school-best second place finish at the National Catholic Championship
in South Bend, Ind., Friday afternoon. On the men's side, Canisius senior
Vasilis Kariolis placed 11th on with his personal best time of 25:40 as the
Golden Griffins finished the race ninth overall.
Frauenhofer, who won the Duquesne Duals two weeks ago to
start the 2009 season, earned All-Catholic honors with her 10th
place finish, the best finish for a Canisius female at the National Catholic
event since Hall of Famer Heather Whalen finished eighth overall in 1991.
Kariolis' 11th place finish is the best for a Canisius male runner
at the annual race since Pat Leone took ninth in 2001.
Host Notre Dame won both the men and women's titles. The
Notre Dame men earned 24-team points with the Fighting Irish women posting 20
total points. The Griffs were charged with 129 team points in the women's race.
Three Blue and Gold female runners placed among the top-30
in the field, led by Frauenhofer.
Sophomore Christine Mulvihill took 18th place with her time
of 19:05 and senior Samantha Garnet crossed the finish line in 19:15 to earn 25th
place overall.
Canisius sophomore Mark Kearney crossed the line in 27:18 to
place 58th in the field and fellow sophomore Jonathan McDonald took
62nd with his time of 27:22.
The National Catholic Championship began
in 1980. The meet premiered as an event featuring prominent Catholic
institutions from throughout the United States, with a women's race being added
in 1984. The Griffs' second-place finish in the women's event is the best for
the program - the 1990 team took third place. The ninth-place finish for the
men's squad is the team's best team finish since 2002 when the team came in
second behind Notre Dame.
Both the men and women's cross country teams will return to
action Sept. 26, when the Blue and Gold travels to Olean, N.Y., to take part in
the annual Little Three Championships against long-time rivals Niagara and St.
Bonaventure.
