BOONE, N.C.- Queens University of Charlotte's women's cross country team took fifth place at Appalachian State's Mountaineer Open this weekend, beating conference and regional power Lees-McRae who finished seventh. The Royals, who moved up to number four in last week's NCAA DII Southeast Regional poll, scored 132-points, 47-points ahead of the Bobcats who are ranked number one in both Conference Carolinas and the Southeast Region.
Appalachian State took the women's team title with 49-points in the ten-team field with Clemson in 2nd with 60; UNC-Wilmington in 3rd with 65; and Milligan in 5th with 124.
The Royals were led by sophomore Holly Annas (Granite Falls, N.C., South Caldwell) who finished sixth overall with a time of 19:09.00 on the rain soaked muddy course. Junior Jessica Neville (Cold Spring, N.Y., Haldane) was not far behind in 10th at 19:19.92 with freshman Maraya Slatter's(Benson, N.C., West Johnston) 19th-place putting three Royals in front of Lees-McRae's first harrier. Sarah Khan (Miami, Fla., Hialeah Miami Lake)and Katie Snow (Brewer, Me., Brewer)completed team scoring for Queens in 71st and 72nd place, respectively, to help the Royals to their first win over the Bobcats in recent memory.
“This was a significant step forward for our women's program,” said coach Scott Simmons. “Running without our number one and number five runners, Meagan Nedlo and Melanie Bergan, our women really stepped it up showing the depth and strength our program is beginning to develop.”
Queens will be off next week before traveling to the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic in Kentucky.
Teams:
1 – Appalachian (49)
2 – Clemson (60)
3 – UNC-Wilmington (65)
4 – Milligan (124)
5 – Queens (132)
6 – King (148)
7 – Lees-McRae (179)
8 – Carson Newman (232)
9 – Montreat (265)
10 – East Tennessee (281)
Individuals:
1 – Caudle, Brittney (ASU) 17:53.25
2 – Ruck, Kim (Clemson) 17:53.86
3 – Armstrong, Kelsey (Clemson) 18:47.54
4 – Casto, Kathleen (UNC-W) 19:05.39
5 – Giffen, Gillian (Milligan) 19:07.41
6 – Annas Holly (Queens) 10:09.00
7 – Foreman, Trinity (ASU) 19:15.64
8 – Kulik, Alyssa (Clemson) 19:18.87
9 – O'Neill, Bernadette (UNC-W) 19:19.92
10 – Neville, Jessica (Queens) 19:19.92
19 – Maraya Slatter (Queens) 20:00.07
71 – Kahn, Sarah (Queens) 22:07.84
72 – Snow, Katie (Queens) 22:09.96
78 – Demarco, Hannah (Queens) 22:33.90
