The women's cross country team finished 5th at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championships, hosted by Emory University in Atlanta. Senior team captain Marie Brandewiede finished 4th out of 157 runners and qualified for the NCAA National Championships to be held next Saturday 11/22 at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. Emory won the meet with 43 points, ahead of Christopher Newport (88), Trinity (90), and Centre (140), as Rhodes (144) rounded out the top 5 of 20 scoring teams. Agnes Scott senior Phyllis Tuggle, a 42-year old former world class cyclist, easily outdistanced the field, winning by 43 seconds with a time of 22:17 over the challenging 6,000 meter Georgia Regional Hospital course.
Brandewiede will represent the Lynx at the NCAA National Championships in cross country for the second time in her career after grabbing the fourth and final individual qualifying spot at the Regional Meet. Last season, Rhodes qualified for the NCAA National Championships as a team, where Brandewiede finished 68th as the squad's number 2 runner. On Saturday, she used a strong finishing kick to pass a trio of Emory runners in the final stretch, crossing the line in 23:28. Brandewiede's 4th place finish completed an impressive improvement in the senior's career at NCAA Regional Championship meets. Her Regional cross country finishes over the last 4 years have been 32nd (2000), 10th (2001), 6th (2002), and 4th (2003). Freshman Jennifer Emo earned NCAA All-Region honors by running 24:39 for 21st place. Cheryl Finster missed All-Region honors by 2 positions, finishing in 25:02 for 27th place. Lizzie Phillips (47th in 25:44) and May King (50th in 25:54) completed the Lynx scoring, while Abbey Walker (82nd in 27:08) and Caroline Owens (100th in 28:13) rounded out the top 7.
Coach Shankman commented about the Regional Meet, "I am very proud of Marie. She ran a tough race, and it is fitting that she will end her cross country career at the National Championships. She is a class act all the way around and has been a pleasure to work with. I am also proud of the effort from the rest of the women. It has been a challenging season after losing so many great seniors last year, but our younger runners have worked hard and will continue to improve."
Results
