Sept. 8, 2011

NORTH CONWAY, NH - Johns Hopkins sophomore cross country and track & field standout Lara Shegoski (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) will compete for the United States Junior Mountain Running Team at the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships in Tirana, Albania on Sunday, September 11. Shegoski is one of seven members (four men, three women) of the junior team that will accompany the 10 senior team members at the event.

Shegoski is coming off a strong freshman year on both the cross country and track & field squads. In cross country, Shegoski earned All-Mideast Region accolades with a fifth-place finish and also garnered First Team All-Centennial Conference honors with a fourth-place finish at the conference championships. She then went on to take 86th at the NCAA Championships.

"I'm really excited about this year's junior team," said Paul Kirsch, Team Manager of the Juniors. "The course in Tirana is a fast one and the combination of strength and speed that our juniors have this year gives them a good shot at being on the podium."

The World Championships alternate between up only and up/down courses every other year with 2011 being an up/down year. The junior women will race one 4.5 km up/down lap while the junior men will race two 4.5 km laps.

Shegoski is scheduled to miss just one event for the Johns Hopkins cross country team. The Blue Jays will run this Saturday (September 10) at the Lebanon Valley Invitational. The Blue Jays have an open week in their schedule next weekend before returning to action on Saturday, September 24 at the Dickinson Invitational. Shegoski is expected to return to action for Johns Hopkins that day.

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