Women's Cross Country News
CROSS COUNTRY CARDINALS NEAR TOP -- posted Wednesday, March 4 2009
With all the running having been completed the nation’s top academic cross teams in Division II have been announced and Incarnate Word is the number six team in the nation.
The announcement is from the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and the All-Academic Team list includes 99 schools in Division II which had cumulative grade point averages of 3.00 or more following the 2008 fall season.
Incarnate Word is on the list with its team GPA of 3.653. Only five other schools can say they topped that mark.
Seattle Pacific (Wash) led at 3.737 followed closely by Ashland (Ohio) at 3.734 and Minnesota State / Moorland at 3.732.
Fourth place is occupied by Harding (Ark) with a 3.710 GPA. The only other school to top Incarnate Word was Mansfield (Pa) with a mark of 3.670.
This is the second straight year for the UIW women to make the All-Academic Team list.
MARTINEZ GETS NATIONAL HONOR -- posted Tuesday, March 3 2009
Sophomore Melissa Martinez is on the USTFCCA All-Academic Team.
Sophomore Melissa Martinez has been named to a national academic team following the fall cross country season of 2008.
Its All-Academic Team for Division II has been announced by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) based on a pair of standards.
Martinez received the honor by maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.68 while studying biology at Incarnate Word. The minimum to be included on the select squad is 3.25.
Then, the second standard is finish position in the regional championships. At the South Central meet Martinez was UIW’s lead runner and she finished 48th which placed her well within the top 50 per cent, is the bottom line for the academic team.
This is the second consecutive year UIW has had a female runner on the academic team. Following 2007 Rose Caldwell qualified for the honor.
MISSOURI SOUTHERN WOMEN WIN SOUTH CENTRAL -- posted Saturday, November 8 2008
Melissa Martinez was first across the line for UIW at the South Central regional meet.
They came as the favorites and they went home with a regional title Saturday as the Missouri Southern women’s cross country team captured the NCAA Division II South Central Championship.
Hosted by Incarnate Word and conducted at Live Oak’s City Park, the meet saw Missouri Southern place two runners in the top 10 and gain enough support down the line to post 88 points and a narrow margin over second place finisher Midwestern State which had 94 points.
Those two squads along with third place Pittsburg State of Kansas became eligible for the Division II National Championships set for November 22 in Slippery Rock, Pa.
Missouri Southern was led by Kimi Shank whose time of 20:53.3 was good for second position overall.
Abilene Christian had two of the top three individual runners. Winrose Karunde crossed the line first in a time of 20:45.6 to qualify for the national event as an individual. ACU teammate Loice Chebol was third in 21:21.4 and she too will move on to the national meet.
As a team the host Cardinals finished in 17th place led by Melissa Martinez. Her time of 23:43.8 put her in 48th place among the 130 runners from 19 schools that toed the starting line.
UIW’s fellow Heartland Conference member Dallas Baptist, which won the league title in October, finished fourth as a team.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1) Missouri Southern, 88 points
2) Midwestern State, 94
3) Pittsburg State (Kan), 105
4) Dallas Baptist, 111
5) Truman State (Mo), 160
6) Southwest Baptist, 173
7) Ft. Hays (Kan), 225
8) West Texas A&M, 256
9) Abilene Christian, 278
10) Central Missouri, 283
11) Newman, 318
12) Central Oklahoma, 320
13) East Central Oklahoma, 326
14) Northwest Missouri, 329
15) Emporia State (Kan), 341
16) Angelo State, 362
17) Incarnate Word, 364
18) Texas A&M International, 474
19) Texas / Permian Basin, 494
FINAL INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
1) Winrose Karunde, Abilene Christian, 20:45.6
2) Kimi Shank, Missouri Southern, 20:55.3
3) Loice Chebol, Abilene Christian, 21:21.4
4) Danna Kelly, Truman State (Mo), 21:23.7
5) Jeniffer Cherono, West Texas A&M, 21:37.3
FINAL UIW STANDINGS
48) Melissa Martinez, 23:43.8
65) Maggie Callahan, 24:18.4
82) Alma Salinas, 24:46.6
83) Nicole Silvas, 24:47.6
86) Alma Santos, 24:53.8
104) Rose Caldwell, 26:14.8
