CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The Queens University of Charlotte women's harriers ran to a 10th place finish at the Division II Southeast Regional Championships hosted by Wingate University, behind the impressive performance of Sophomore Jessica Neville (Cold Spring, N.Y., Haldane).

The race served as the qualification for the NCAA Championships and Neville was not to be denied her plane ticket to the big dance. Neville used the first mile of the race to establish herself amongst the contenders for the automatic qualifying spot and used the next two miles to move up and put herself in the top seven runners. During the last one thousand meters, Neville powered away from her nearest competitors to capture 5th place over the hilly course in a time of 23:35 for the 6k distance. 

Neville is the first women's runner to compete at the National Championships in Queens history.

Senior Katherine Carman (Terrace Park, Ohio, Ursuline Academy) finished second for Queens in 30th place in a time of 25:25, running a spectacular final race in a Queens uniform. Carman steadily moved up through the field, passing numerous runners in the final thousand meters. Finishing third for Queens, in her first regional competition, was freshmen Holly Annas (Granite Falls, N.C., South Caldwell) in 53rd overall with a time of 26:07. In fourth for Queens was senior Chandler Tribble (Clinton, S.C., Laurens Academy), 88th – 26:51, running a great race to move up through the field. Capping off the scoring for the Royals was junior Sarah Khan (Miami, Fla., Hialeah Miami Lake) in 136th place in 30:11.

“I am very proud of what our team has accomplished this season” says assistant coach Jeff Gaudette. “To see Jessica earn a trip to the national championship and our seniors cap the season off with a great race is a testament to the teams preparation and dedication all season.”

Neville will move on to the NCAA championships to be held in Slippery Rock, Pa., on November 22nd.