Completed Event: Women's Cross Country versus Friar Invitational on September 5, 2025 ,
Women's Cross Country
vs Friar Invitational
Final
Providence College Athletics
2001 Women's Cross Country Outlook
8/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Head Coach Ray Treacy has built his women's cross country program into one of the nation's elite group of harriers. The Friars graduated a core group of seniors, who helped Providence to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall, but Treacy has reasons to be excited heading into this season.
"This year's cross country squad has tremendous depth," Treacy said. "From All-American Heather Cappello to NCAA Outdoor qualifiers Claire Shearman and Roisin McGettigan, we have some great runners."
Treacy has set high goals for his squad, from competing for the BIG EAST Conference cross country title to finishing in the top-10 at the NCAA Championship for the 12th time in the last 13 years.
Once the track season rolls around the Friars will have one of their best track teams ever at PC. Four NCAA Qualifiers, Heather Cappello, Claire Shearman, Roisin McGettigan and Brooke Freeburg will look to return to the NCAA's. The addition of freshmen Roisin Quinn (Waterford, Ireland) and Deirdre Byrne (Wicklow, Ireland) will give the Friars a formidable Distance Medley Relay squad.
Leading this season's squad will be senior Heather Cappello (Lockport, N.Y.). A 1999 cross country All-American as a sophomore, Cappello redshirted during the fall season as a junior and will be looking to return to the form that earned her All-America honors. She competed last year during the indoor seasons running on PC's winning DMR team at the New England Challenge and finishing second in the DMR at the Valentine Invitational.
Senior Claire Shearman (Portsmouth, N.H.) will join Cappello in leading the Friars. "Claire is very important to the success of the cross country team," Treacy said. Shearman was a scoring member for the Friars at the NCAA Championship and after redshirting during the indoor season, she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000 meters.
Kathryn Casserly (Galway, Ireland), the squad's third senior, was one of the team's most improved runners last season, setting personal bests in every distance from 800 meters to 5,000 meters. She is an integral member of the cross country team who should help the Friars reach their season's goals.
Juniors Roisin McGettigan (Wicklow, Ireland) and Emer O'Shea (Limerick, Ireland) are both important members of the Friar squad. McGettigan was a scoring member of last year's cross country team and she should continue to score points for the Friars while also attempting to defender her outdoor BIG EAST Championship in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. McGettigan should return to the NCAA's in the steeplechase. McGettigan's year encompassed her second trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall, a BIG EAST Championship in the steeplechase in the spring, a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championship and a school and Irish National Record in the steeplechase when she won that event at the Albany Invitational.
O'Shea's cross country season was brief as she ran in just three meets during the fall, but Treacy will look for her to add depth to the cross country squad and he will use her versatility during the indoor and outdoor seasons. O'Shea, who has starred on the track, will attempt to qualify for the NCAA's in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters.
Sophomore Lisa Cappello (Lockport, N.Y.) had a solid freshman season, competing as one of the top seven harriers for the Friars. She spent the majority of the indoor season preparing for the World Junior Cross Country Trials, where she finished 10th and just missed making the U.S. team. Cappello redshirted during the outdoor season, but her experiences from last season should provide her with the foundation to compete in PC's top group of runners. Four freshmen who should make an impact during the cross country and track seasons join this year's team. Deirdre Byrne, Mary Cullen (Sligo, Ireland), Roisin Quinn and Katie Twarog (Albany, N.Y.) will help bolster the Friars talent and depth.
Byrne was one of the top middle distance runners in Ireland. She was the Irish School's 1,500 and 3,000 meter Champion in 2001 and Treacy expects that she will make an immediate impact with the Friars.
Cullen should make the biggest impact to the cross country squad in the fall. She was the runner-up at the Irish Junior Cross Country Championship in 2001. She was also the Irish Junior Outdoor Track 5,000 meter champion.
Quinn is one of the best 800 meter runners at the Junior level in Europe. She was the Irish School's 300 meter champion in 2000 and moved up a distance, where she became the Irish School's 800 meter champion last year. Quinn should bring depth to the Friars squad while competing in cross country and on the track.
Twarog comes to Providence with a vast amount of experience from a successful high school program. She was the New York State Cross Country Champion in 1999 and in 2000 was the New York State 3,000 meter champion. The transition from one of the most successful high school distance programs to PC's successful, team-oriented program should be an easy one for Twarog. Freshmen Katie Twarog and Emma Foster are New York State champions, Twarog in the 3,000 meters and Foster in the discus, which will give the Friars more versatility.
The Friars track program got a boost last year from two-sport star, junior Brooke Freeburg (Waterford, Pa.). Freeburg successfully returned from ACL surgery to the basketball court last winter and to the track team in the spring, where she was the BIG EAST Champion in the javelin. Freeburg became PC's first-ever field event qualifier for the NCAA's in the javelin and earned All-American honors as well.
Coach Treacy has set lofty goals for this year's squad, but he is optimistic that he has the right mix of veterans and newcomers to successfully reach the goals. Providence College's women's cross country is one of the nation's elite programs. Returning to the NCAA Cross Country Championship would give the black and white the chance to finish in the top 10 for the 12th time in 13 years.
Treacy's goals for the indoor and outdoor seasons are to get many student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships. Last year Claire Shearman, Roisin McGettigan and Brooke Freeburg reached the NCAA's while Heather Cappello qualified in 2000. Treacy would like to see these four return to the NCAA's with some of their teammates, to increase the profile of the Providence indoor and outdoor team.
Providence vs. Temple
Friday, October 31
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Sunday, October 26
Men's Soccer vs UCONN
Saturday, October 25
Men's Basketball Exhibition vs. Harvard
Saturday, October 25
