Seahawk Women Wrap Up 2009 Season at NCAA Regional
Bethlehem, Pa. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's cross country team concluded their inaugural varsity season with a strong showing at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Cross Country Mideast Regional hosted by Muhlenberg College at the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University on Saturday morning.
Saturday's meet was one of eight regional qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Championships hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio on November 21. Regional meets hosted by University of Southern Maine, Grinnell College, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, SUNY Geneseo, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Guilford College and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges will also determine the field for the national championships.
The first-year program picked up a 41st-place finish (out of 44 teams) in its first-ever trip to the NCAA regionals. Johns Hopkins University captured its second straight regional title with 109 points, besting fellow Centennial Conference member, Dickinson College, by just four points.
As the top two teams in the region, Johns Hopkins and Dickinson now automatically qualify for the NCAA championships. Sixteen at-large selections will be chosen as well from the 24 teams that finish third through fifth at the regionals.
Freshman Katie Phipps (Severna Park, Md./Chesapeake) was St. Mary's top finisher for the seventh straight time as Phipps posted a time of 26:20.6 (a 7:05 per mile pace) to place 195th out of 311 runners. Jenn Cronin of Lebanon Valley College nabbed the individual title as Cronin crossed the finish line in 21:39.2 for a 5:49-minute mile pace.
There are also 56 individual qualifiers (seven from each region). Because the individual qualifiers must come from teams that do not qualify, runners can be left “on the bubble” after Saturday's races; they must wait until the at-large team selections are made to know if they made the field for nationals.
The Seahawks averaged 27:34.3 for the 6,000-meter course. Freshman Kristin Hay (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) finished 202nd with a time of 26:29.5 followed by sophomore Kathleen Tatem (Kensington, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) in 233rd place with her time of 27:29.4.
The addition of men's and women's cross country during the spring of 2009 brought St. Mary's athletic offerings to 17 sports.
Affiliated with NCAA Division III, St. Mary's became the ninth and final member institution of the Capital Athletic Conference to sponsor both men's and women's cross country. The Seahawks joined Gallaudet University, Hood College, the University of Mary Washington, Marymount (Va.) University, Salisbury University, Stevenson University, Wesley College, and York (Pa.) College.
Other Seahawk finishers (311 runners): 248. Margaret Lillie (28:13.6), 263. Christi Ford (29:18.7), 278. Katie Morgan (32:06.4), 281. Laura Hewins (33:24.2)
