Oct. 28, 2006

FORT WAYNE, IN - Freshman Cara Constantino was the top finisher for New Jersey Institute of Technology in the national Division I Independents cross country championship race on Saturday.

In the race, hosted by Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Constantino was 40th overall, with a time of 26:38. The race winner was South Dakota State senior Becka Mansheim (22:05.9). Constantino was ninth among freshmen in the race.

As a team, the Highlanders were eighth, while South Dakota State was the winning team, edging host IPFW, 55-58. placing four runners in the top eight for the race. Other participating teams were: North Dakota State, UC-Davis, Texas-Pan American, Utah Valley State, Longwood, IPFW, NJIT and Chicago State.

Here are the other finishers for NJIT: Jackie McCaffrey (45th; 27:51.6); Iulia Doci (49th; 33:08.3); Aileen Davila (50th; 34:50) and Donita Crudup (56th; 48:15.1).

The Highlanders will host, but not compete in the Nick Russo Halloween Classic on Sunday at Van Cortlandt Park and the season will conclude with selected runners competing in the ECAC/IC4A championships on November 18, also in Van Cortlandt Park.