University of St. Thomas Athletics
NCAA Championships
Statz is All-America, Women 21st at nationals
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
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Senior Erin Statz won her second career cross country All-America honor Saturday with a 13th-place showing in a field of 275 finishers at the Division III Championships in Mason, Ohio.
Statz clocked 22:00 on a slow, muddy course. That improved on her All-America performance of 2012, in 22nd place, her last previous NCAA CC race. She joins a select group of MIAC runners with multiple All-America honors in cross country.
The Tommies finished 21st of 32 team and beat two other region teams. Carleton finished 14th (373), UST took 21st (551), Wartburg was 25th (609) and St. Olaf placed 27th (630).
The Toms' 2-3-4-5 finishers were in a 25-second range:
- Sophomore Bridget McGivern took 146th in 23:34 and was the 10th MIAC finisher;
- Senior Melissa Engstrom finished her career on a high note as she placed 168th in 23:41;
- Junior Emily Gapinski took 198th in 23:56;
- Sophomore Alex Fossum was 200th in 23:59;
Sophomore Kayla Janto was 244th in 24:19. Senior Kayla Goeman was 254th in 24:40.
Carleton's Ruth Steinke placed fourth and Macalester's Kimber Mayer took seventh to join Statz with All-America finishes.
This was St. Thomas' first team qualifying appearance at nationals since 2008, and six of UST's seven were competing in their first national cross country race.
Players Mentioned
