Gutsy Race Places Tiernan 2nd at NCAA Championship

Rutherford took off in the NCAA Championships as the lone Columbia qualifier after a ninth place finish in the Northeast Regionals. Her time was a personal best for that distance and it was the seventh-fastest result by anyone on the Continentals’ 6K course. “She has had a relaxed week of training and is fully recovered from the regional meet”.

With their performances, Knight, Bennie, Hehir and Germano all earned All-America honors.

“By running in close proximity to those, Caroline’s got to believe that top-40 is a good goal”, Keith said.

On the women’s side, Washington senior Maddie Meyers was the first Pac-12 runner across the line in eighth place, helping the Huskies (297) to their 10th-place team finish. The Sooners have run against nationally-ranked competition throughout the season including the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational where the men finished second against a strong field in mid-September.

“I thought the guys really gave a great effort after the emotional roller coaster from last week’s regional meet”, California Director of Track and Field & Cross Country Tony Sandoval said. Denault and Williamsz have competed in every NCAA Championship meet dating back to the 2012 season as they ended their cross country eligibility for the Wildcats on a high note. She has been named UAA Athlete of the Week five times, earned All-American status, and helped her team win second place in the UAA Championships in 2014.

“I would say it’s fair that we are the (men’s) favorites, but I don’t think we are the prohibitive favorites”, Wetmore said. “But with this year’s team, we’ve got a good mix of youth and experience to hopefully get top 20”. But she showed promise in cross country, taking fifth at the Summit League Championships in 2013.

Stonehill finished first among East Region teams at the Championship with 369 points. “She’s become one of the best middle distance runners in the USA right now, so she just has to keep stepping up to that”. “They all come together for big meets”. Grand Valley State University finished second in the team standings with 97 points, while Hillsdale College rounded out the top three (140). And she’s played the part well, being the Bears’ top runner at each of the five meets where she competed.

“I thought our teams ran very tough under very miserable conditions”.