Despite sitting out two of its top runners from last year, the Pitt women’s cross-country team… Despite sitting out two of its top runners from last year, the Pitt women’s cross-country team started off the season with a bang, going 5-1 in Saturday’s Duquesne Quad Meet.

Maureen McCandless was the first Panther to finish the 5,000-meter race, coming in second at 18 minutes and 32 seconds – just 10 seconds away from first place. As a freshman last year, she finished third with a time of 18:40.

“It felt pretty good,” McCandless said about the first meet of the year. “I ran faster than last year and I was happy about that.”

The biggest surprise for Pitt was junior Rachel Rothe who, after finishing 26th in 2001, shaved 90 seconds off her time to finish in 18:43 to place fourth overall.

“I’m happy [with Saturday’s results],” Rothe said. “I had a hard time the first couple of years, but I stuck with it and here I am.”

“Clearly [Rachel] improved tremendously from last year,” head coach Waddie Freeman said.

Dawn Hilgert was the third Panther to finish, coming in 11th with a time of 19:37. Right behind her were freshmen Kelly O’Connell, who finished 13th with a time of 19:39, and Nicole Angstadt, who crossed the finish line with a time of 19:41, placing her 14th.

“I was very proud of the girls,” Freeman said. “Anytime you have basically two freshmen in your top five, that’s excellent.”

The Panthers were without Amanda Schmidt, last year’s top runner, and Lauren Shaffer, who sat out because of a hamstring injury.

“[Lauren]’s got a little hamstring thing that’s just a nagging injury,” Freeman said. “She could have run, but in a meet like this, it’s better just to sit her out and get her ready.”

Although the men ran well, they finished the meet with a 2-4 record.

Dan Hull finished first for Pitt, running the 4.2-mile race in 22 minutes and eight seconds, placing him 15th overall. Hull finished the race in 22:34 last season.

Also improving his time from last year was Jeryl Wilborn, who came in 19th with a time of 22:21 after finishing 34th (23:45) in 2001.

Finishing third for Pitt was Mike Diano, who cut 40 seconds off his time from last year. Diano finished 21st overall, just a second behind Wilborn with a time of 22:22.

Rounding out Pitt’s top five were Nick Westerman, who came in 30th with a time of 22:43, and Andrew Zang, who finished in 23:36, placing 43rd.

“I was pleased with the guys, they definitely stepped it up,” Freeman said. “Now we have something to look at and say this is where we are currently.”

The Panthers return to action on Sept. 28 for the Duquesne Invitational, which is when Freeman expects the team to be in race shape.

“We use the first meet to kind of gauge where we are at,” he said. “There’s usually a big jump from our first meet to our second meet.

“The nice thing about cross country is it’s what you do in October and November that’s very, very important and that’s what we’re trying to get ready for.”