Hokie ClubTERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Against the nation’s elite, the Virginia Tech women’s cross country team posted a 25th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships to close out an impressive season.
"We didn't have our best race of the year," said head cross country coach Ben Thomas. "We had a couple of girls go down and come to a full stop in the first kilometer and never really got our pack together. Despite the lapses, their effort was great."
Competing at nationals for just the second time in school history, the Hokies used a top-100 finish from senior Paige Kvartunas to push them into the 25th spot in a field of 31 of the nation’s best teams, a total of 255 individual runners. Kvartunas crossed the line at 88th with a time of 21:08.1, just 24 seconds away from receiving All-America honors.
Senior Sarah Rapp, competing in the final cross country race of her career, finished in the top half of the field in 112th place with a time of 21:16.5. Senior Hilary Krein finished in 131st with a time of 21:25.9.
Sophomore Shannon Morton was the next to cross the line with a time of 21:42.8, good for a 172nd-place finish. Senior Katarina Smiljanec posted a 227th place finish with a time of 22:20.7.
Sophomore Hanna Green crossed the finish line in 235th place with a time of 22:40.4 while senior Amanda Smith closed out the Hokie scoring with a time of 23:28.4 for a 251st-place finish. Tech finished with 574 points.
"It's been a great season and we are extremely excited about the upcoming track season. We came into the race ranked 28th and despite having an off day were able to finish 25th in the nation. I am very proud of the group's efforts," concluded Thomas.
This concludes the 2014 cross country season. All of the distance runners will now set their sights on the 2014 indoor track & field season.