USI Women Earn Highest NCAA Championships Finish

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USI Women Earn Highest NCAA Championships Finish

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Cross Country earned their highest ever finish at the NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country Championships, with a fifth-place showing Saturday at the Abbey Course in St. Leo, Florida.

With two finishers in the top-10, the Screaming Eagles earned 209 points to seal a fifth-place finish. Previously, the highest USI finish at the National Championships came in 1998 when the Eagles earned eighth at the event.

Grand Valley State University earned the team crown with 116 points. Adams State University and Western State Colorado University rounded out the top three teams. Chico State University finished 20 points ahead of USI in fourth.

Individually, junior Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) placed fifth for her second-consecutive year with a time of 20 minutes, 35.00 seconds, the fourth fastest six-kilometer time in school history. In the process, Roberts captured her fourth All-America honor.

Despite leading for the first three-kilometers, senior Jessica Reeves (Midland, Michigan) surrendered the lead to finish ninth with a time of 20:40.90. Reeves’ six-kilometer time was the fifth fastest in USI history. The senior also holds the school record 6k-time, which she accomplished two weeks ago at the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships.

The finish turned Reeves into and All-American for the first time in her career, making her the 10th USI Women’s Cross Country runner to earn the honor.

Junior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Illinois) aided the Eagles with a 58th-place finish, while senior Cathryn Peter (Tell City, Indiana) was 85th. Fellow senior, Carly Whitesell (Zionsville, Indiana) was the final point scorer for USI with a 98th-place finish.

Rounding out the runners for USI were junior Bryce Cutler (Benzonia, Michigan) and sophomore Hope Jones (Cumberland, Indiana), who crossed the finish line 146th and 182nd, respectively.

Grand Valley’s Kendra Foley earned her second career individual national championship with a time of 20:01.80

USI opens the Indoor Track & Field season in January.