MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The Embry-Riddle women's cross country team capped its 2023 season with a sixth-place finish at the 2023 NCAA II South Region Championships on Saturday. The Eagles placed its top five runners in the top 50 and scored 171 points in the 15-team event, finishing two spots higher than they did in 2022 and four spots higher than they did in 2021.
Lee (28 pts), Tampa (65 pts) and Mississippi College (68 pts) were the top three schools.
All seven Eagle harriers posted personal best times and each of the top five secured spots on the Eagles' all-time top-20 listing as Embry-Riddle posted the fastest total team time in program history of 1:50.45.
For the first time this season,
Abby Valley was the top finisher for the Blue & Gold, running the second fastest 6K time in program history. The senior completed the University of Montevallo Cross Country course in a personal best time of 21:41.5 to place 22nd overall.
Taylor Roth also improved her time in the second 6K race of her career, crossing the line in 25th in 21:53.24.
Caroline Harris shaved nearly a minute off her previous personal record with a time of 22:08.21, which was good for 35th place.
Anna Miller also made a significant improvement in her 6K PR as her time of 22:27.89 was 52 seconds faster than her previous personal best.
Kelly Steffens (47th, 22:34.94) and
Kendall Mathis (52nd, 22:41.75) both ran under 23 minutes for the first time in their respective careers, while
Alaina Rider (68th, 23.18.34) also ran the fastest race of her career.
"The women had a great race today," head coach
Mike Rosolino said. "This was their best race of the year and the first time all seven ran well in the same race. I'm really proud of how they came together this year and put together a phenomenal race today."
The 2023 Embry-Riddle women's cross country season is presented by Radiology Associates.
