Women's Cross Country Competes at NCAA Regionals
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Elms College women's cross country team posted a 50th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Division III New England Regionals, hosted by Williams College at the Mount Greylock Regional High School, to close out the 2014 campaign.
Freshman Sarah Tatgenhorst (Winterport, Maine) registered the top finish among the Blazers runners, taking 192nd overall with a time of 25:34. Senior Rachel Lehouillier (Belchertown, Mass.) took 299nd with a time of 27:58, followed by senior Diana Borys (Oakville, Conn.) one spot back in 300th (27:59). Freshman Sarah Kaczenski (Northfield, Mass.) was 334th (28:52), and junior Emma Bernard (Springfield, Mass.) was 345th with a time of 29:14. Freshman Caitlyn Hoschtetler (South Hadley, Mass.) came in at 348th (29:24), and senior Shirley Ryan (Brimfield, Mass.) was 357th with a time of 30:07.
The top teams were First place MIT with 40 points and second place Middlebury with 65 points. Both MIT and Middlebury have thus automatically qualified for the NCAA championships, which will be held on November 22nd in Mason, Ohio.
Third place Williams (95), fourth place Amherst (127), 5th place Wellesley (280), and 6th place Tufts (207) may qualify for NCAA's as well with an at-large bid, which will be granted under the discretion of the USTFCCCA. Up to four teams from each region behind the top two teams may be selected nationwide for an at-large bid. The weather was cold and sunny, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees. 57 teams and 387 runners overall competed in the women's 6k race and navigated the High School's tough, hilly course. The top 35 individual finishers also received All-Region honors, and the top seven individual finishers from non-qualifying teams will earn a ticket to Nationals as well.
MIT dominated the upper part of the field, running in packs and placing 4 runners in the top 10 finishers of the race, while Middlebury placed two in the top 10. Sarah Quinn of MIT was the undisputed individual winner, leading for much of the race finishing in 21:39.9. She gapped runner-up Alison Maxwell of Middlebury, who closed in 21:48.8. Audrey Gould of Tufts finished third in 21:51.8. Fourth was Summer Spillane of Middlebury in 21:54.2, fifth Christina Wicker of MIT in 21:57.4 right in front of teammate Elaine McVay in 21:59. Sophomore Emma Zehner of Williams was seventh overall in 22:00.4. Maryann Gong of MIT (22:06), Savanna Gornisiewicz of Amherst (22:09.2), and Priyanka Fouda of Wellesley (22:14.1) rounded out the top 10 overall finishers, respectively.
