The Final Listing Of The Greatest Penn State Womens Cross Country Runners Of All Time, Just In Time For Christmas Unwrapping

With the combination of the AIAW results from 1975-1980 and the NCAA results from 1981 to the present, we finally have complete results of the Womens Collegiate Championships.  Those who finished in the top 50 of any of those Championships are included in the rankings.  A complex, flawed and arbitrary method was used to rank them according to my whim and mood.  I was persistent to find all these results so that I could include some friends I have actually run some miles with.  Merry Christmas to Patty, Mary, Kathy, Liz, Kris and Heather.

1. Kathy Mills Parker - 3rd 1976, 1st 1977, 3rd 1978, 4th 1979 for 179.6 points.
2. Liz Berry Larsen - - 15th 1975, 11th 1976 and 16th 1977 for 97.3 points. 
3. Kris Bankes - 3rd 1975, 43rd 1976, 15th 1977 for 79.6 points. 
4. Heather Carmichael - 8th 1979, 24th 1980, 31st 1981, 43rd 1983 for 77.6 points. 
5. Bridget Franek - 23rd 2008, 26th 2009 for 52.8 points.
6. Susanne Heyer - 14th 2000 for 36.7 points.
7. Caitlin Lane - 16th 2011 for 35.0 points.
8. Liz Cunningham Kisenwether - 12th 1975 for 33.5 points.
9. Stacia Prey - 23rd 1985, 41st 1987, 31st 1988 for 30.1 points. 
10. Kimberly Kelly Segiel - 27th 1992, 35th 1994 for 28.4 points.
11. Patty Murnane Nosack - 24th 1979 for 26.4 points.
12. Mary Rawe Rapp - 26th 1980 for 20.1 points.
13. Kimberly McGreevy - 28th in 1996 for 19.4 points. 
14. Donna Gardner - 34th 1976 for 13.1 points.
15. Tessa Barrett - 38th 2015 for 13.0 points. 
16. Doreen Startare McCoubrie - 28th in 1982 for 12.0 points.
17. Kelli Hunt - 42nd 1992, 44th 1993 for 11.4 points. 
18. Colleen Glyde - 41st 1992 for 7.1 points. 
19. Wendy Nelson - 43rd 1990 for 5.6 points.
20. Eileen Meenan - 45th 1975 for 5.2 points.
21. Torri Perri - 47th 2012 for 4.0 points. 
22. Erin St. John - 46th 1994 for 3.6 points. 
23. Jennifer Weaver - 46th 1993 for 3.6 points. 
24. Meredith White - 45th 1984 for 2.6 points. 

A Treadmill Runner Weirder Than Me!

I take a lot of heat for running almost all of my miles on a treadmill.  But I do occasionally brave the outdoors. And the most I ever ran on a treadmill was 20 miles. This guy won't have the outdoor option at all when he "runs the London Marathon".

Tim Peake To Run London Marathon

The current record for treadmill running of a marathon in space is held by a woman!  Sunita Williams ran the Boston Marathon in 4:24 while strapped to the machine by sophisticated bungee cords and duct tape in 2007. The newer machine should be much nicer.

Our very own Liz Cunningham almost became an astronaut and could have easily eclipsed that mark!  (Thanks to Official Physicist Brian Boyer for that tidbit.)

 And a timely episode of the Muppets "Pigs In Space" just for the heck of it.

 

1975 Was A Wonderful Year. (Well, for the movies anyway. Maybe not the songs!) AIAW Results

Top Movies of 1975:

1.  Jaws    "We're going to need a bigger boat."
2.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail " Come and see the violence inherent in the system."
3.  One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest  "I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this"

Top Songs of 1975:

1.  Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain and Tennille. 
2.  Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell.



3.  Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John

 

But it was also the dawn of big-time Womens College Cross Country.  And Penn State was there (Ames, Iowa) in a big way.  Like a second place finish to the foreign-heavy Iowa State Cyclones!

Penn State:

1.  Kristen Bankes                    3rd   17:12

2.  Elizabeth Cunningham       12th   17:36

3.  Elizabeth Berry                  15th   18:02

4.  Eileen Meenan*                   45th  18:59

5.  Karen Johnson                   62nd  19:26

   
The Top 20:

 *This will add Eileen Meenan to the final listing of the Greatest PSU XC Runners of All-Time - Coming Soon!

Another Change To The Greatest Womens XC Runners Of All-Time (Need 1979 and 1980!) The Intern Is Demanding A Pay Raise!

Thanks to a very observant and conscientious, faithful reader who is working this Thanksgiving, we have the 1975 AIAW XC Championship results to add to the list of Greatest PSU Womens XC Runners of All-Time!  Keep them coming.  We only need 1979 and 1980 now, which could boost Doreen Startare McCoubrie and Heather Carmichael and others in the mix!  I don't want to leave anyone out, but I need confirmation of the results before posting.


The criteria and formula used by the overworked math intern are the same as before and similar to the Mens version. (Top 50 women instead of top 20 men being the only difference to make about the same number of people represented.)

Greatest Penn State Womens Cross Country Runners (AIAW and NCAA) Of All-Time

(Red indicates changes from the last version.)

1. Kathy Mills Parker - 3rd 1976, 1st 1977 and 3rd 1978 for 133.8 points.
2. Liz Berry Larsen - - 15th 1975, 11th 1976 and 16th 1977 for 97.3 points.
3. Kris Bankes - 3rd 1975, 15th 1977 for 74.4 points.
4. Bridget Franek - 23rd 2008, 26th 2009 for 52.8 points.
5. Susanne Heyer - 14th 2000 for 36.7 points.
6. Caitlin Lane - 16th 2011 for 35.0 points.
7. Liz Cunningham Kisenwether - 12th 1975 for 33.5 points.
8. Stacia Prey* - 23rd 1985, 41st 1987, 31st 1988 for 30.1 points.
9. Kimberly Kelly - 27th 1992, 35th 1994 for 28.4 points.
10. Kimberly McGreevy - 28th in 1996 for 19.4 points.
11. Heather Carmichael - 31st 1981, 43rd 1983 for 13.1 points.
12. Tessa Barrett - 38th 2015 for 13.0 points.
13. Doreen Startare McCoubrie - 28th in 1982 for 12.0 points.
14. Kelli Hunt - 42nd 1992, 44th 1993 for 11.4 points.
15. Colleen Glyde - 41st 1992 for 7.1 points.
16. Wendy Nelson - 43rd 1990 for 5.6 points.
17. Torri Perri - 47th 2012 for 4.0 points.
18. Erin St. John - 46th 1994 for 3.6 points.
19. Jennifer Weaver - 46th 1993 for 3.6 points.
20. Meredith White - 45th 1984 for 2.6 points.    

Elizabeth (Liz) Cunningham Kisenwether.