Colby ranked 7th in national

With two consecutive fifth place finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships meet, Colby has established itself as one of the top teams in the country. The 2006 team is expected be a strong contender for another run for nationals.

Despite the graduation of three runners from the 2005 team, the Colby Mule pack returns a strong nucleus of five of its top eight runners from a year ago.

Tri-captain Karen Prisby ’07 (Agawam, Mass.) was the team’s lead runner for half of the 2005 season. She earned All-America honors for finishing 19th at the NCAA meet, was Maine State champion, and earned All-NESCAC and All-New England honors.

Teammates Anna King ’08 (Greenland, N.H.) and Elizabeth Petit ’08 (Grosse Pointe, Wis.) placed consistently in the fourth and fifth spots in 2005 and will bring strength and experience to the top seven in 2006. Devan FitzPatrick ’09 (Greenwich, Conn.) and Kathleen Maynard ’09 (Jackson, N.H.) made big contributions last year and will be looked upon to be in the top seven of the 2006 team.

Tri-captains Kirsten Davis ’07 (Franklin, Mass.) and Betsy Littlefield ’07 (Wellesley, Mass.) will vie for one of the top seven positions.

The Colby harriers also will look for contributions from a group of talented first-year students that includes: Terri Bello (Sudbury, Mass.), Margo Derecktor (Newport, R.I.), Katrina Gravel (Peabody, Mass.), Amanda Ivey (Oxford, Maine), Cassandra Knight (Concord, Mass.), and Elizabeth Powell (Westford, Mass.).

With returning and new talent, the opportunity for another run for nationals is in the hands of those who prepare themselves for the challenges ahead. The journey will be an exciting one.

Finishing fifth at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2004 was the best the women's cross country team has ever finished at the national meet. The Mules were able to duplicate that achievement in 2005 when Colby once again placed fifth in the country under head coach Deb Aitken.

Senior Jess Minty and junior Karen Prisby each earned All-America honors for finishing in the top 35 overall. Minty, an All-American in indoor track last year, finished in 16th place, while Prisby took 19th place.

Colby got to the NCAA meet by placing second at the NCAA New England Regional qualifier. The Mules had four runners – Minty (fifth place), Prisby (10th), Liz Turner (17th) and Anna King (18th) in the top 20.

The Mules also took third place in the NESCAC meet behind a fourth from Prisby and a sixth by Minty. Colby hosted the State of Maine Championships and won the race behind a win by Minty, a second from Prisby and a third from King. Minty finished in first place and Prisby was third in helping Colby win the 35-team UMass-Dartmouth Invitational to start the season.

Colby's distance training program is divided into four or five phases, with each phase focused on the improvement of a different energy system. Workouts are designed to improve cellular adaptation and running economy, increase maximum oxygen capacity, and elevate lactate threshold. The emphasis is on individual development. Every effort is made to ensure that each individual is challenged without over- or under-training.

Thanks to a gift from Judge and Mrs. Levin Campbell and their daughter Eleanor '81, Colby has developed five miles of running trails over the 714-acre Mayflower Hill campus. The wood-chipped and grass-covered trails have been the site of state, NESCAC, and ECAC championship races.

The greater Waterville area is a runner's haven. In addition to the Campbell Trails, a variety of dirt roads within the Belgrade Lakes area, local golf courses, and area trails provide an array of soft surfaces and varying terrain on which to train and endless miles of breathtaking scenery that is hard for the running enthusiast to resist.

» About the Cross Country Trails