CHARLOTTE, N.C.- On the strength of Tanya Zeferjahn (Hesperia, Calif., Hesperia High School) and Meagan Nedlo 's (Mt. Pleasant, TX, Pittsburg, HS) 10k/5k doubles, Queens University of Charlotte nabbed the highest NCAA championship team finish for all sports in school history. The Royals, who entered the meet ranked 15th in the nation, finished the championships with 27 points in sixth place, while Angelo State won the team title with 87.

After Zeferjahn's successful defense of her 10,000-meter title and Nedlo's All-American third place finish on the first day followed by the cancellation of the 5,000-meter prelims due to lightening on the second day, the final day's events finally proved fruitful for Queens. Zeferjahn challenged Shippensburg's Neely Spence in the 5,000-meters, but just as at the indoor championships, she was only able to pull away from the rest of the field but not Spence, taking the runner-up spot and scoring eight points for the Royals with her 16:20.56. Nedlo unleashed a kick to finish sixth and grab three more points with a personal best of 16:35.95. The duo earned themselves two more All-American awards for their efforts as well.

Freshman Maraya Slatter (Benson, N.C., West Johnston), forced into the slower heat of a timed two-heat 800-meter final due to the cancellations, finished fourth in her heat with a season best of 2:10.87 only good enough for 12th when combined with the faster heat's marks and not earning any team points. The time, however, improved upon her earlier USA Junior National Championships qualifying mark.

The top four ranked teams, Angelo State, Lincoln, Grand Valley and Abilene Christian, finished exactly as predicted. Fort Valley and Queens were able to leap frog well over fifth ranked Adams State and sixth ranked UC San Diego to take fifth and sixth respectively. Crosstown rival and host Johnson C.
Smith improved upon their 12th place ranking but the Royals were able to hold them off as they finished 10th.

Both Zeferjahn and Slatter are expected to compete in the USA Senior and Junior Champiomships, respectively, June 23-27 in Des Moines, Iowa. 

Click here to view an interview with Zeferjahn and click here to view an interview with Nedlo.

 Women - Team Rankings - 21 Events Scored =================================================
    1) Angelo State                87        2) Lincoln (Mo.)              73
    3) Grand Valley St.            47        4) Abilene Christian          38
    5) Fort Valley State           29        6) Queens (N.C.)              27
    7) Minn. St. Mankato           26        8) Adams State                24
    9) Shippensburg                23       10) Johnson C. Smith           22
   11) St. Augustine's             21       12) Ashland                  
19.50
   13) Winona State                19       14) Nebraska-Omaha             18
   14) Emporia St.                 18       16) UC San Diego               17
   17) Seattle Pacific             16       18) Western Washington         14
   18) Chico State                 14       20) Indiana (Pa.)              13
   21) Slippery Rock               12       21) St. Cloud St.              12
   21) Pittsburg St.               12       24) Missouri Southern        
11.50
   25) Central Missouri            11       26) Western State              10
   26) UMass Lowell                10       26) Northern State             10
   29) Findlay                      9       30) Missouri S&T                8
   30) Minnesota-Duluth             8       30) Bemidji St.                 8
   30) Clarion                      8       30) San Francisco St.           8
   35) Western Oregon               7       35) New Mexico Highlands        7
   37) Hillsdale                    6.50    38) Cal St. Los Angeles         6
   38) NW Missouri                  6       38) Southern Indiana            6
   38) Benedict                     6       42) East Stroudsburg         
 5.50
   43) Fort Hays St.                5       43) Lewis                       5
   43) Northwood                    5       43) Nebraska-Kearney            5
   47) UC-Colo. Spgs.               4       47) American Int'l              4
   47) Truman State                 4       47) Mansfield                   4
   47) Columbus St.                 4       52) Augustana (S.D.)            3
   52) Humboldt State               3       52) U. of Mary                  3
   52) California (Pa.)             3       52) St. Joseph's (Ind.)         3
   57) Concord                      2       57) Cal St. Dom. Hills          2
   57) Mesa State                   2       57) Colorado Mines              2
   57) Tampa                        2       62) Tarleton State              1

Women 5000 Meter Run Finals
  1 Neely Spence              SO Shippensburg          16:14.23   10
  2 Tanya Zeferjahn           SR Queens (N.C.)         16:20.56    8
  3 Sarah Porter              JR Western Washington    16:23.52    6
  4 Monica Kinney             SO Grand Valley St.      16:24.67    5
  5 Brenae Edwards            JR Mansfield             16:33.50    4
  6 Meagan Nedlo              SR Queens (N.C.)         16:35.95    3
  7 Alexis Skarda             FR Mesa State            16:41.26    2
  8 Kimi Shank                JR Missouri Southern     16:41.95    1
  9 Tori Tyler                JR Chico State           16:42.14
 10 Dani Dell'Orco            SO Truman State          16:42.46
 11 Ruth Keino                FR Alaska Anchorage      16:44.24
 12 Megan Maceratini          JR Grand Valley St.      16:44.64
 13 Miriam Kipng'eno          SO Alaska Anchorage      16:57.76
 14 Eileen Creutz             JR Grand Valley St.      17:05.65
 15 Angela Adams              SO NW Missouri           17:13.95
 16 Morgan Place              SO Minnesota-Duluth      17:17.72
 17 Kristen McGlynn           FR Adams State           17:21.18
 18 Amy Kolin                 JR Grand Valley St.      17:33.13
 19 Hannah Steffan            SR Dallas Baptist        18:08.88