RICHARD, GOLDEN EAGLES SET SIGHTS ON NCAA EAST REGIONALS

            Erin Richard, fresh off winning the first individual women’s PSAC Cross Country Championship in school history, is ready to lead the Clarion University women’s cross country team at the NCAA Division II East Regional Saturday at Lock Haven.

            “This is what we have been focusing on all season,” Clarion’s second-year head coach Jayson Resch said. “Our goal as a team is to place in the Top 6 in the Region. The course at Lock Haven is a flat course, which will set up for a fast race.”

            Clarion is coming off an eighth place finish at the PSAC Championships last weekend, but Resch believes the Golden Eagles can finish higher at the Regional meet because they have been preparing for the flat-course race all season.

            “I believe the team is prepared physically, mentally and emotionally for the race,” Resch said. “They are eager to have the opportunity to improve on their finish at the PSAC Championship meet.”

            Richard will be among the favorites to win the Regional championships after a convincing performance at PSAC’s in which she knocked off defending champion Rachael Lanzel of Edinboro by 16 seconds winning in a time of 23:01.1. The PSAC Cross Country gold adds to an already impressive resume for the senior, who was an All-Region performer (11^th place) in cross country last season before going on to win three PSAC titles (Mile indoor, 3,000 and 5,000 outdoor) and three All-American awards (5,000 indoor, 5,000 and 10,000 outdoor) in track and field.

            Richard’s goal at Regionals is to earn a spot at the NCAA Division II national championships.

            “Erin’s training has been designed for her to be prepared to race well at Regionals with her cutting back on the amount of training in the two weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship,” Resch said. “Her primary goal is to win the Regional championship, and her race last week was a step in the right direction in achieving her personal goals.”

            Richard is far from the only quality runner for the Golden Eagles.

            Additional runners expected to make noise at Regionals include Kate Ehrensberger (St. Marys/Elk County Catholic), Caitlin Palko (Pittsburgh/North Hills), Molly Smathers (Clarion/Clarion) and Lisa Nickel (Pittsburgh/Shaler), who were all in the Top 50 at PSACs.

            Ehrensberger finished 34^th at the PSAC meet in a time of 25:41.20, while Palko was 42^nd (25:56.3), Smathers 44^th (25:58.7) and Nickel 47^th (26:06.6).

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion’s top regional finish came in 2002 when the Golden Eagles finished second … The last Top 10 individual finish at Regionals for Clarion came in 2004 when Melissa Terwilliger took sixth. Terwilliger was fourth in 2003 and eighth in 2002. Terwilliger is also the only Clarion runner to earn All-American status when she finished 17^th in the nation in 2003 … Richard has won seven PSAC Track Gold Medals and was the 2007 PSAC Outdoor Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and the 2007 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Region Indoor Women’s Track Athlete of the Year … Richard, a Clarion and PSAC “Scholar-Athlete”,  is also a great student and was a 2007 third-team ESPN The Magazine Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America and a 2007 first-team District 2 College Division ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection as well as a USTFCCCA All-Academic team member.