HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Florida State women’s cross country team put together a phenomenal performance on Friday morning to punch their ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla., on Nov. 19. The ladies finished second in the team standings with 88 points to take one of the two automatic qualifying spots. The men finished fourth with 134 points.
“Our ladies rocked it today. They executed the plan beautifully and moved very well over the second half of the race. To be an automatic qualifier for the national meets speaks to their dedication, trust and hard work they have put in all season. I’m so proud of each one of them and grateful that we can have one more week together,” Assistant Coach Baylee Mires said.
Emmy van den Berg led the way with another great performance clocking a personal best time of 19:47.70. van den Berg finished sixth to earn all-region honors.
Alyson Churchill also put together a career-best performance with a time of 19:59.70 to earn all-region honors with an 11th-place finish. Agnes McTighe also earned all-region honors with a personal best time of 20:02.80 to finish 14th.
Caitlin Wilkey (20:33.50) and Rebecca Bergnes (20:37.00) each put together personal best performances to finish 28th and 29th to round out the scoring for the Seminoles.
On the men’s side, it was Fearghal Curtain leading the way for the Seminoles with a time of 29:30.00 to finish sixth to earn all-region honors.
Cooper Schroeder also earned all-region honors with a 14th-place finish (29:57.70).
Zach Leachman finished 37th with a time of 30:55.80. Matthew Newland (30:59.20) and Gabe Curtis (31:14.20) rounded out the scoring for the Seminoles.
“I was really pleased with our men,” Head Coach Bob Braman said. “We knew what we had to do to get to the national meet, so we went right to the front and gave ourselves a chance. This was our best race of the season.”
The women have punched their ticket to Stillwater, but the men will await their fate. The NCAA will announce all qualifiers tomorrow at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
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