Easter finishes third at NCAA Division III National Cross Country meet; Creswell finishes 151st
November 23, 2002

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Bates College's Justin Easter (Jay, Maine) finished an impressive third place at the 2002 NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., Saturday afternoon. Easter finished with a time of 25:20.9, just 19 seconds behind winner Ryan Bak of Trinity (Conn.) College. Katherine Creswell (Portland, Ore.), of Bates, finished 151st with a time of 24:00.0. Creswell, a sophomore, was competing in her first ever NCAA championship event, and is the first Bates runner, as an individual, to qualify since 1996 (Abby Phelps).

Easter, with the third place finish (out of 215 runners), earns his second berth to the Division III cross country All-America team, and has been on five NCAA Division III All-America team combined (outdoor track and skiing). This was also his 10th participation in a NCAA championship event. Easter was running in 10th-12th place with two miles to go. He ran a strong final two miles to finish third and his time exceeded the original course record.

"I had faith in Justin that he would run well today," said Bates men's cross country coach Al Fereshetian. "Justin showed his toughness and the mental edge to make a move in those final two miles."

The previous best finishes by Bates' runners at the NCAA Division III Championships were by Mike Danahy and Justin Freeman, who both finished eighth, in 1999 and 1998 respectively.