FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
WARRENVILLE, Ill. (Nov. 2, 2013) - A 6,000-meter race was decided by a few strides Saturday at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin ICCIW) Women's Cross Country Championships, as North Central College was denied its fourth team title in five years by the narrowest of margins at St. James Farm.
The Cardinals' team score of 61 left them in second place by a single point, as Augustana College compiled a score of 60 to win the team championship for the first time since 1998. The five scoring runners for the two teams all finished within 49 seconds of each other in perhaps the closest two-team race in the meet's history.
"We competed against a very good Augustana team," said North Central head coach Mahesh Narayanan. "They beat us earlier in the year, and we were able to close the margin to one point. Given the differing levels of experience we have, they did really well. We're very happy with today after finishing fourth last year."
The first seven finishers across the line each represented different institutions. Emma Gilbertson of Wheaton College placed first overall, covering the 3.7-mile course in 21 minutes, 59.55 seconds to win the individual championship, and the team race began to take shape when Augustana's Becca Sund and North Central's Nora Ferguson placed sixth (22:59.39) and seventh (23:03.72), respectively.
"The race was very competitive," Ferguson said. "I was definitely pressing for a lot of it, but I think that having my teammates with me and having the kind of support we had all around the course definitely helped me."
The Cardinals' Jacki McKown hit the line ninth (23:13.79), followed by Augustana's Lizzie Lundine (23:20.24) in 11th and and North Central's Krista Cota (23:23.66) in 12th. The Vikings sealed the win when Kelsey Stockert, Jessica Bacon and Kate Benge placed 13th (23:26.93), 14th (23:29.45) and 16th (23:32.60), respectively. North Central's scoring was completed by Helen Majer in 15th (23:31.90) and Katelyn Zumpf in 18th (23:39.24).
"I thought we ran very, very well," Ferguson said. "The dynamics were there, we all had a goal that we were trying to reach, and everybody fought for it. Getting beat by one point will definitely be fuel for us, so we know we have some things to accomplish in the next two weeks as we get ready for regionals."
North Central will return to St. James Farm on Thursday to host the Red/White Open at 4:15 p.m. before traveling to Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill., for the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 16.
