WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Vermont College women's cross country team concluded its 2016 season Saturday at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Qualifier, the Mountaineers setting a number of personal and program marks at Stanley Park.
Six Mountaineers participated in the enormous field that saw 406 runners take to the 6000 meter course. That marked the second time in program history that Southern Vermont turned in a team score at the NCAA event.
FULL RESULTS: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/16/ma/Nov12_NCAADi_set1.shtml
Bennington College junior Isabella Poulos (Milwaukee, Wis.) was the first SVC harrier to cross the line, coming in at 24:26 for a personal record in a collegiate 6k; that mark was the second-best in team history, being just 17 seconds behind the Mountaineers' top time of 24:09 set by head coach Kathleen Newton '04 in 2002.
Senior captain Shelby Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) came through next for the team, taking a whole 2:22 off of her previous 6k time from this season to chalk up a 25:57 in her final collegiate cross country race. Senior rookie Jordan Welch (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) wrapped up her year with a 26:17, that performance moving her up to eighth on the all-time SVC 6k record list as she knocked off 2:45 from her last mark in that distance.
Fellow senior Skye McGuire (Mechanicville, N.Y.) ran her final cross country race with a 27:02, taking 33 seconds off her time from last year's NCAA Regional and 1:09 off of her previous 6k mark this season.
Sophomore Morgan Arleth (Berlin, Vt.) and senior Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.), self-proclaimed "running buddies," were once again close to one another as Arleth came through at 28:27 with Lesure following just 10 seconds behind. Arleth's performance was her first in an NCAA Regional and 1:03 faster than that which she put up at the team's previous 6k this year; Lesure was 51 seconds ahead of her NCAA mark from a year ago and 2:10 faster than her other 6k time this season.
Southern Vermont
175th - Isabella Poulos: 24:26
273rd - Shelby Whitman: 25:57
292nd - Jordan Welch: 26:17
325th - Skye McGuire: 27:02
359th - Morgan Arleth: 28:27
363rd - Emily Lesure: 28:37
– #LetsGoSVC –