RESULTS: WOMEN | MEN
DOVER, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University will once again be represented at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship, as the women's team finished third at the NCAA South Region Championship Saturday at the Dover Trails. The men's team finished sixth, with senior
Long Tran (Saigon, Vietnam) individually qualifying for nationals.
The women had three All-South Region runners to push them through to the final race of the season.
Alexandria Palm (Sr., Winnebago, Ill.) once again led the Sharks with a second-place finish. She was first among Sunshine State Conference runners with a time of 22:44.04, 40 seconds behind the individual regional champion. Behind Palm was junior
Rose Howell (St. Louis, Mo.), who claimed ninth overall with a time of 23:06.20.
Peri Bowman (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) wrapped up her team's all-region runners with an 18th-place finishing time of 23:47.10.
"Qualifying for nationals was no surprise," stated head coach
Bryan Hagopian. "We have been running great all season, today was just another great day for us. I'm confident our team will have a great showing in Spokane, Washington in two weeks and I believe Alex has a great shot at becoming the team's first All-American."
Tran qualified for nationals as an individual, taking the final spot for a runner on a team that did not qualify. Tran claimed 11th place with a time of 33:07.30. Tran's time beat West Florida's Tim Wenger by more than 16 seconds to book his ticket to Spokane.
"He had a great race," stated Hagopian. "He got off to a great start and got better as the race went along. We did not know he qualified until we saw the results after the race, so it was a nice surprise. The whole team was excited for Tran, it was great to see as a coach."
Two other runners claimed top-25 finishes, earning all-region distinction.
Wade White (Fr., Bangor, Pa.) claimed 21
st place with a time of 34:12.30. It's the third fastest time ever for a freshman at NSU in the 10K. Four spots behind him was senior
Timo Kilp (Tallinn, Estonia) with a time of 34:23.40. Kilp earns all-region honors for the second straight season.
On the women's side,
Brittaney Smash (Sr., Arlington, Texas) and
Aimee Sims (Jr., St. Anne, Ill.) finished back-to-back in 27
th and 28
th place with times of 24:30.50 and 24:34.50, respectively. Wade White's sister
Brittany White (Jr., Bangor, Pa.) finished in 33
rd place with a time of 25:06.30, while
Katey CoDyre (So., Bowmanville, Canada) clocked in at 25:17.90 for 39
th place.
Junior
Luis Gonzalez (Hereford, Ariz.) was one second behind the all-region cutoff, claiming 26
th place with a time of 34:24.90. Fellow Another freshman in
Benjamin Manuel (Willemstad, Curacao) finished in 34:42.30.
Nicholas Hogan (Peoria, Ariz.) was the next finisher in 48
th place with a time of 35:48.30. Rounding out all Sharks was
Nicholas Hogan (So., Gainesville, Fla.) with a 65th-place time of 37:14.70.
Tran and the women's team will compete at nationals in Spokane, Wash. on Saturday, Nov. 23.
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