April 5, 2006

FUKUOKA, Japan --- Former University of North Carolina standout Blake Russell led the United States to a pair of top-five finishes at the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships at Umi-no-Nakamichi Seaside Park Saturday and Sunday. Russell was 11th in the 8K Saturday with a time of 26:23. She followed that with an 18th-place finish Sunday in the 4K in 13:21. Russell was the top U.S. finisher in both races.

Russell was a two-time ACC champion while at Carolina and earned All-America honors in the distance medley relay in 1997.