STILLWATER, Okla. – With the course ground firm and temperatures only in the mid-20s, the Florida State women’s cross country team had another great showing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
“I’m incredibly proud of our ladies today! They came into the race ranked 26th and out-performed that by eight spots. They ran very tough and each one of them gave everything they had today. I couldn’t have asked for anything else. They have had an amazing season, and I cannot wait to see how this momentum pushes us into the indoor and outdoor seasons,” Assistant Coach Baylee Mires said.
The Seminoles hung tough and closed the race strong, finishing in 18th place with a score of 471 points, just four points shy of 15th. It was the 13th top 20 team finish at NCAAs in school history.
Three Noles finished within the top 100 runners as Van den Berg crossed the line in 50th place at 20:16.6, followed by Churchill in 79th (20:29.7) and McTighe (20:30.9) in 84th.
Van den Berg, Churchill, and McTighe are now the 44th, 45th, and 46th runners in school history to place within the top 100.
Yasmine Abbes was next to cross the finish line, clocking 21:03.1 for 165th and Caitlin Wilkey (21:12.4) was the fifth and final scoring runner in 184th. Rebecca Pottorff (21:17.4) placed 193rd and Rebecca Bergnes took 215th at 21:31.6.
Fearghal Curtin competed in the men’s 10k. Curtin got out to a fast start and finished among the top 100 runners. Curtin placed 93rd at 30:10.06, becoming the 35th Nole to place within the top 100 at NCAAs.
“Fearghal has had a great season. He went for the huge race and paid for it a little bit, but I’m proud of the way he competed today,” Head Coach Bob Braman said.
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