No. 9 XC Places Second at Big 12 Championship
November 01, 2014 01:24 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Behind a top-five finish from senior Kaitlyn Gillespie, the No. 9 West Virginia University cross country team placed second, today, at the 2014 Big 12 Cross Country Championship in Lawrence, Kansas.
No. 6 Iowa State placed first with a team score of 29, while West Virginia finished second with a team mark of 58.
“We will walk away from this meet with mixed emotions. Losing to a team that has the ability to win the national championship is nothing to be discouraged with,” said coach Sean Cleary. “We will take second and go home to continue preparing for the NCAA Championships.”
Today marked the second straight year West Virginia finished second in the conference. Gillespie led the way for the Mountaineers, finishing the 6k course in 20:18.1 to place fifth overall.
Redshirt-freshman Maggie Drazba, a St. Mary’s, West Virginia, native, placed eighth overall in 20:40.1. Sophomore Jillian Forsey placed 12th overall in 20:54.9, earning Big 12 All-Conference honors, along with Drazba and Gillespie, for finishing in the top 15 overall.
“We had a few girls a little off their game for various reasons, and they will surely be much better as we go forward,” Cleary said. “What makes me proud and excited is that we had a number of girls have huge improvements today, providing the type of depth required in the championship meets. We will enjoy this briefly before refocusing.”
Other West Virginia finishers included a 16th-place result by redshirt-freshman Brynn Harshbarger (20:59.0). Harshbarger missed out on all-conference distinctions by just 0.7 seconds.
Junior Sydney Scott finished 17th overall (21:00.9), junior Kelly Williams placed 21st (21:09.8) and freshman Millie Paladino finished 25th overall in 21:27.5.
Rounding out the WVU finishers were Rachel Faulds in 48th (21:55.7), Paige Szabat in 49th (21:57.0) and Renee Maisonneuve in 62nd (22:22.2).
The Mountaineers return to action at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meet in State College, Pennsylvania on Friday, Nov. 14.
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