Women’s cross finishes 16th at harsh NCAA meet
Facing an injury to its top runner and a blistering pace that taxed every runner on the course, the women’s cross country team still managed to place 16th at the NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship.
Held Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind., the national meet capped an amazing year for the Owls, which saw the team go from an unknown, unranked challenger to winners of the Conference USA title and, eventually, their first-ever South Central Regional title on Nov. 10.
Individual winner Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech University set an astounding pace on her way to a 19 minute, 31 second finish over the six kilometer course. Stanford University took the team title with 145 points.
Unfortunately for the Owls, who were used to running more conservatively, the pace was too fast for their liking.
“I wanted us to run at the same rhythm we’ve been going out at,” head coach Jim Bevan said. “[The field of runners] got sucked out fast, and at that juncture it becomes a survival type of a race.”
The Owls indeed found themselves in a very tough fight right from the start. Rice was not far off from its goal of placing in the top 10, as its 413 points were only 26 points from 10th place University of Iowa.
In fact, a top-10 finish would have been likely had it not been for the tremendous pace. Senior Callie Wells, normally a top-five finisher for the Owls, actually collapsed due to the strain of the race and did not finish.
Bevan said he was proud of his team’s efforts in light of the harsh circumstances.
“I thought we gave a great accounting of our team and how good a team we are because we beat a lot of good schools, and a lot of good schools beat us,” Bevan said. “But we fought, and we hurt, and we ran as hard as we could. […] In fact, you can even say we ran harder than we could because Callie didn’t even finish. She ran harder than she could actually run.”
For the second straight race, senior Marissa Daniels, the Owls’ top runner, was hampered by injuries. The calf cramps that afflicted Daniels at the regional meet led to further injury. Daniels felt better Monday after struggling through the weekend, but decided to run with the team instead of taking her customary spot among the leaders. Her determination paid off, as she finished second for Rice and 62nd overall with a time of 21:27.
With Daniels hurt, freshmen Becky Wade and Allison Pye would once again carry the Owls. Wade edged Daniels with a time of 21:23 for first place on the team and 53rd overall. Pye would finish third on the team with her time of 21:33, good for 71st place overall.
The rest of the Owls did not finish far behind the top three. Sophomore Nicole Mericle finished in 21:44, eleven seconds after Pye. Sophomore Britany Williams rounded out the scoring for Rice with her time of 22:08. Lastly, senior Lennie Waite finished with a time of 22:24.
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