MANSFIELD, PA. (November 7, 2009) – The Kutztown University women's cross-country team will get to perform at the NCAA National Championship after coming in second place at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional meet this weekend. (Complete Results)
The first three teams to cross the finish line earned the trip to the NCAA National Championship. Joining Kutztown at nationals will be PSAC East rivals Shippensburg University and Bloomsburg University.
The Golden Bear women placed three of its runners in the top 20, and finished all seven in the top 50 on the 6k course on Mansfield University's campus. A total of 22 teams participated 152 runners.
Junior Cristina Reimer (Chester Springs, PA/Downingtown East) (Chester Spring/Downingtown East) crossed the finish line first for the Golden Bears, finishing in 22 minutes, nine seconds for 14th place. Six seconds later, senior Maureen Watson (Walnutport, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) (Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) finished, grabbing sixteenth place. Freshman Becca Brandt (Cleona, PA/Cedar Crest) (Cleona/Cedar Crest) finished in 20th, crossing the finish line at 22:26.
Junior Keri Brown (Southampton, PA/Seneca) (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) (23, 22:38), junior Kristin Cupido (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) (27, 23:44), senior Cheryl Dingman (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) (Lansdale/North Penn) (36, 23:05), and senior Steph Grimm (Fleetwood, PA/Oley Valley) (Fleetwood/Oley Valley) (46, 23:19) also represented Kutztown. The team's final time was 1:52:09 for 100 points.
Finishing first overall in the race was Shippensburg . The team placed five of it's seven runners in the top 50. Sophomore Neely Spence finished first overall with a time of 20:15. Also finishing in the top five was junior Mary Dell, in 20:45. The Lady Raiders earned 86 points and finished in 1:49:13.
Bloomsburg, who finished third overall with 120 points placed four of its seven runners in the top
50. The team finished the 6k course in 1:52:37. Seniors Angela Borealo finished in eighth place, at 21:45 and Andrea Kellock finished in 21:56 for ninth place.
According the the latest poll rankings released on Tuesday by the United States Track and Field Cross-Country Coach's Association (USTFCCCA), Shippensburg is ranked first in the Atlantic Region. Bloomsburg is ranked second and Kutztown is ranked third. Kutztown previously held the number two spot for the last two consecutive weeks and has stayed in the top five rankings since week four, since Oct. 6.
The Golden Bears have two weeks off before making the trip to Southern Indiana for the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21. Last year, the team did not make the national championship, but did send alumnus Joanna Horstmann (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West) who finished 50th overall. The last time KU made the NCAA National Championship was in 2006, which was its third consecutive appearance. Kutztown placed 14th overall, a program best.
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