RECAP: NCAA Div. I Cross-Country Championships

Photo courtesy of FloTrack

By STEVE TURGEON

College Track & Field Correspondent, R.I. Track & Field Foundation

The Providence College women finished 13th and the PC men were 24th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terra Haute, Ind., on Saturday.

Junior Millie Paladino (Morgantown, WV) led the PC women, finishing the 6K course in 20:34.3, good for 55th overall.  Junior Brianna Ilarda (Perth, Australia) was next for the Friars in 68th place (20:40.7). Graduate student Sarah Collins (Basel, Switzerland) was the third Friar across the finish in 94th place (20:49.6), followed by junior Katie Lembo (Penfield, NY)  in 138th place (20:59.5) and freshman Abbey Wheeler (Elmira, NY) in 148th (21:03.7).

The PC women scored 399 points. Oregon won the women's race in dramatic fashion. With four runners in each, The Ducks and runner-up Michigan were tied at 76 points, leaving the championship up to their No. 5 runners. The two runners were shoulder-to-shoulder down the stretch with Oregon's Maggie Schmaedick edging Michigan's Jaimie Phelan by one tenth of a second at the line, giving The Ducks the National Championship.

Senior Hugh Armstrong (Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland) led the PC men, finishing 75th in the 10K race (30:43.7). Graduate student Julian Oakley (Tauranga, New Zealand)  was next for PC in 119th place (31:02.2). Graduate student Stephen Robertson (Wakefield, MA), junior Thomas O'Neill (Middletown, NJ) and Trevor Crawley (Cumberland, RI) finished within four seconds of each other. Robertson finished  182nd (31:28.9), O'Neill finished 183rd (31:30.3) and Crawley  placed 187th (31:32.0).

The PC men had 611 points. Northern Arizona placed three runners in the top 20, cruising to the win in the men's race with 125 points. Stanford was second at 158, followed by Syracuse at 164.

Championship Notes: In the women's race, Harvard freshman Eliza Rego (Warren/La Salle Academy) finished 231st (22:10.7). In the men's race, Matt Bouthilette (North Providence/La Salle Academy) was the sixth runner for Georgetown, which placed 21st overall. Bouthilette finished 239th, covering the course in 32:47.7.