Results
LAKELAND, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle women's cross country team saved its best race for when the Eagles needed it most - at the 2018 NCAA II South Region Championship on Saturday morning, claiming the region title with an impressive performance and earning the right to head back to the NCAA II National Championship in two weeks. The women duplicated the men's efforts 30 minutes earlier as Embry-Riddle enjoyed a delightful double sweep with a pair of region crowns.
Sarah Edens put an exclamation point on the day for the Blue and Gold as the junior won the women's individual title in record-breaking fashion.
Edens' 21:18.61 shattered her previous school 6K record set just two weeks ago at the SSC Championship and was more than 16 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Makayla Hewell from Shorter.
Edens was followed by
Kristen Metcalfe in third overall in a time of 21:48.60 as the Eagles were the only team to put two runners in the top-10.
Kara Funke finished 17th in 22:40.05, with
Mikaela Hakamaa (26th - 22:57.58) close behind. True freshman
Rachel Jones sealed the region crown with a 34th-place finish in 23:17.84.
Alex Orr (42nd - 23:33.93) and
Josie Gray (48th - 23:43.13) also ran for the Eagles and either of their finishes would have still given the Blue and Gold the team crown.
It was an upset for both the first and second-place team finishers on Saturday as both the Eagles and Union (Tenn.) beat out NCAA II No. 24 Lee (Tenn.) who finished third, and region No. 2/SSC Champion Tampa. ERAU scored 78 points, easily blowing past Union's 112. Florida Southern and Alabama Huntsville rounded out the top-five.
The region crown is the first for the women's team in program history and qualifies the Eagles for the NCAA II National Championship on Dec. 1 in Pittsburgh. It will be the Eagles' second consecutive national championship appearance.
