November 10, 2008

Lady Tiger cross country team places 10th at nationals

Running shorthanded, the Cowley College women’s cross country team still managed to finish 10th out of 33 teams at the NJCAA Cross Country National Championships held Saturday in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Unable to field a full squad, the Lady Tigers had six runners compete at the national meet. It would have been five, like they competed with at regionals, if not for Kari Rinehart returning from injury to take part in her first meet of the season.

“I was excited to still be a top-10 team,” said first year head coach Vince DeGrado.

Leading the way for Cowley was freshman Cecilia Burley, who placed 22nd in the 3.1 mile race with a time of 19:16 and earned Coaches Association All-American honors.

“She’s going to be really good and keep getting better for us,” DeGrado said.

Sophomore Jessica McLeod placed 37th with a time of 19:43, while freshman Robin Ray placed 54th (20:01) out of 246 runners.

“Robin ran a great race and is also going to be a good runner for us,” DeGrado said.

Sophomore Janee’ Gabbard ran well and placed 91st with a personal best time of 20:53, while Marvia Lewin (21:00) and Rinehart (24:45) rounded out Tiger runners at the meet by placing 101st and 213th, respectively.

Iowa Central Community College won the women’s race by 39 points over runner-up Butler Community College.

DeGrado has recruited some talented runners to join Burley and Ray next season and is already looking forward to next year.

“The women’s team is looking great for next year,” DeGrado said.

Top-10 team scores: (1) Iowa Central, 53; (2) Butler, 92; (30 Rend Lake, 154; (4) El Paso, 163; (5) Pima, 173; (6) Johnson County, 211; (7) Paradise Valley, 221; (8) Central Arizona, 226; (9) Lansing, 227; (10) Cowley, 269.