University of St. Thomas Athletics
NCAA Regional
Women's CC in position for NCAA nationals bid
11/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
No. 22-ranked St. Thomas Women's Cross Country had a strong race at Saturday's NCAA Regional race in Pella, Iowa, and appears poised to receive an NCAA at-large berth when they are announced on Sunday.
Carleton (60) and St. Olaf (81) took first and second out of 27 teams and claimed the automatic team qualifying berths.
St. Thomas (127) and Wartburg (173) placed 3-4 and lead the region's at-large contenders.
The last time Coach Joe Sweeney advanced a full team of Tommies into CC nationals was in 2008.
St. Thomas ran well on a cold day despite the absence of No. 3 runner Kate Mares, who was sidelined by illness.
Senior Erin Statz fought off a leg injury and placed seventh out of 189 finishers in 21:45.
Freshman Alex Fossum placed 22nd in 22:39 and was the second freshman finisher in the competition.
UST put four other runners from 31st to 40th place in a tight 12-second pack to secure a solid third-place:
- senior Melissa Engstrom took 30th in 22:44;
- sophomore Bridget McGivern placed 31st in 22:49, a personal-best time by nearly 40 seconds;
- junior Emily Gapinski was 37th in 22:51;
- senior Kayla Goeman was 40th in 22:56;
- sophomore Kayla Janto was 90th in 23:57.
UST placed 14th at regionals in 2013 with several top runners injured our sitting out the fall.
McGivern's Saturday performance was 1:17 faster and 43 places better than her 2013 regional finish as a freshman.
Players Mentioned
