Oct. 11, 2004

Laura Haefeli, a graduate from UD and the only cross country runner to be in the UD Athletics Hall of Fame, was part of the Teva U.S. Women's Mountain Running Team that won the bronze medal in the World Mountain Running Trophy event last moth in Italy. This is the best finish by any U.S. team (men or women) in this event.

Italy won the gold medal with 14 points followed by second place Austria with 49 points. The U.S. team finished with 50 points, one point behind the silver medalists.

Haefeli finished in 15th place overall with a time of 53:41 in the 8.4 kilometer course. Her teammate, Anita Ortiz, finished in 11th place (53:03), even though she strained a ligament early in the race. Her last two teammates, Erica Larson 55:23) and Lisa Osom (56:39), finished in 24th place and 31st place.

Haefeli attended UD from 1986-1990. While at UD, she was twice named All-Ohio Runner of the Year and was an All-American her senior season. She won the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship in 1988 and 1989. Plus, she set and still holds the record for the widdest individual margin of victory (1:01) in 1989.

Since graduating from UD, she has become a seven-time National Champion in the summer biathlon, a sport that combines running and marksmanship. She is also a nine-time National Team Member. She also won the 2004 USATF 10k Trial National Champion and winner of the Teva Vail Hillclimb.