Women's Cross Country Places 15th at NCAA Regionals
Pacers are top CSAC school, finish 15th out of 53 schools
Women's Cross Country finished 15th at the NCAA Regionals Saturday and were the top finishers from the CSAC
Bethlehem, PA - Marywood University placed three runners in the top 100 to finish 15th out of 53 schools in the NCAA Regional meet Saturday afternoon in Bethlehem. The 2009 CSAC runners-up, Marywood bested Gwynedd-Mercy College, the team that took home the 2009 CSAC title on a tie-breaker, by four spots. The Griffins finished 19th. Johns Hopkins edged out Dickinson College for the overall team title.
Stephanie Bender (Albrightsville, PA) led Marywood with a 48th place finish, completing the 6K course in a time of 23:36.6. Less than 23-seconds later, teammate Lauren Rustad (West Chester, PA) crossed at 23:59.0 to finish 68th. Senior Colleen Spring (Binghamton, NY) closed out her career with a brilliant race, giving the Pacers three top-100 finishes with a 93rd place showing after crossing the tape in 24:15.9.
Bender's finish was the fifth best ever for a Marywood runner in a regional race and her time of 23:36.6 was the fifth fastest 6K time in school history. For her efforts, Bender was named to the NCAA Regional's All-Freshman Second Team after recording the 11th fastest time for a freshman. Rustad's time was the sixth best in school history while her 68th place finish was the ninth best finish in Marywood history.
Sarah Bauer (Rockaway, NJ) finished fourth for Marywood and 111th overall with a time of 24:38.1, while Kelsey Dunn (Waldwick, NJ) finished four spots later at 115 with at ime of 24:42.06. Jessica McCauley (Gouldsboro, PA) and senior Amanda Misiak (Bellmawr, NJ) finished 141st and 160th, respectively, with times of 25:04.2 and 25:29.6.
In all, Marywood finished with an average time of 24:14.4. Gwynedd-Mercy, who finished 19th, averaged 24:39.0 and was led by Katherine Klinger's 26th place showing. Marywood's 15th place finish ties the 2005 and 2006 teams as the highest finish ever at NCAA Regionals. The Pacers' 435 point total ranks as the best in school history, and six of the seven Marywood runners set personal records.
Marywood also set a new program record with 112 total wins on the season to top the former mark of 90 by the 2005 squad. Wins are counted for each head to head victory over other teams during each race throughout the season.
For complete results of the NCAA Regional meet, click here.