Led by senior Cybil Covic's 61st place overall finish, the Lynx placed 26th out of 32 teams at the NCAA Division III National Championship in Cleveland, Ohio. In a field of 279 runners, following Covic over the 6000 meter course was sophomore Taylor Stephens (131st place/23:51), senior Melissa DeFabrizio (169th / 24:12), junior Kelsey Dudziak (193rd / 24:28), and junior Anna Johnson (198th / 24:30). Rounding out the scoring for the Lynx was freshman Maddie Harrigan (241st place) and junior Marianne Kirk (276th place).

Last year, Covic and Stephens each qualified individually for Nationals, with Covic finish 81st and Stephens placing 35th. Coming into this year's meet, Rhodes was ranked 23th nationally. This is the first time the entire team has qualified for the national meet since 2002, when the team finished 24th overall.

“It was a tough, hilly course with soft conditions due to all the rain they've recently had,” said Head Coach Robert Shankman. “Although times were not particularly fast for most of the field, our team fought hard and ran a solid race.”

The meet caped a great season for the Lynx, which included a 2nd place finish at the SCAC Championships, and a first place finished at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships in which the top 5 runner were all named to the NCAA All-Region Team.

“What a great year for our women. The dynamic on our team has been wonderful, which has made it such a fun season for everyone. It was great experience for our younger runners to participate in the national meet. I know everyone is motivated to do the work in order to return next year.”



RESULTS