By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
October 5, 2009

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4 West Virginia University cross country team moved to the No. 2 spot in the Mid-Atlantic region announced today by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

"Like I have said all season, there are three teams that you could throw a blanket over in the region and all could be No.1, Princeton, WVU and Villanova," coach Sean Cleary says. "Villanova just flexed this weekend and deserved to be No. 1."

The Mountaineers finished this past weekend with a first-place showing in the Paul Short Invitational on Friday. WVU took the top spot out of 75 teams, with 105 team points. Guelph finished in second (127), followed by Indiana (143), North Carolina State (153) and Cornell (183).

Junior Jessica O'Connell led the Mountaineers, finishing in 10th place with a time of 20:24. Redshirt freshman Sarah-Anne Brault followed in 13th (20:35), while juniors Kate Harrison and Kaylyn Christopher finished 20th (20:56) and 21st (20:56), respectively.

The Mountaineers continue racing on Oct. 16, as they travel to University Park, Pa., to compete at the Penn State National Invitational for their last regular season race.