Kelsey Pence

After a sixth place finish in the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2008 the Denison women’s cross country team returns 11 letterwinners and seven of their top eight runners from a year ago.

Leading the way in 2009 will be junior Katie Navarre (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Kirby Mosenthal (Briarcliff, N.Y./Irvington) along with senior Kelsey Pence (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North).  Navarre enjoyed an outstanding sophomore season which culminated with an All-American finish at the NCAA Division III Championship in Hanover, Ind.  She also turned in a second-place finish at the 2008 NCAC Championship in Oberlin, Ohio.

Mosenthal followed Navarre at the conference championship with a 23rd place finish and a time of 23:25.  She was also second on the squad at the All-Ohio Championship in Delaware, Ohio when she logged a time of 20:55.

Despite having injuries that have hampered her performance over the last year, Pence’s senior leadership will be invaluable as the season progresses.  While fighting through pain last year she still managed to finish fourth on the team at both the NCAC Championship and the All-Ohio Championship.

Joining Pence, Mostenthal and Navarre in the starting lineup will be senior Kelly McCallin (Canton, Ohio/St. Thomas Aquinas), sophomore Victoria Pottieger (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) and juniors Ashley Putnam (North East, Pa./North East) and Julie Rotramel (Lexington, Ky./Lafayette).  

McCallin placed fifth on the team at the NCAC Championships and posted the sixth-best time for DU at the All-Ohio meet.  Putnam placed 34th out of 97 runners at the 2008 NCAC Championship, which was the third-best time on the team.

Also returning to the team in 2009 is senior Natalie Gross (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline), junior Grace Kaminski (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and sophomores Ani Mutafova (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) and Victoria Stearns (Plymouth, Mass./Falmouth Academy).

Five first-year runners will also get a chance to work into the top-seven as the season progresses.  Denison’s season kicks off on Tuesday (Sept. 1) at Kenyon College.  Their first scored meet will be at the Great Lakes College Association Championship on Saturday (Sept . 12) in Delaware, Ohio.