Queens University of Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-  Jessica Neville (Cold Spring, N.Y., Haldane) has been named the October Female Student-Athlete of the Month. The news was announced today by the Queens University of Charlotte Athletic Department.

Neville, a junior, competed in two races during the month of October and finished second in both. At the Greater Louisville Invitational she set a personal best at that time with an 18:31.9 finish in the 5k race. Her finish helped lead her team to third place out of 35 division I and II programs.

At the Conference Carolinas Championship hosted by Queens, Neville set a new personal best running the 5k race in 18:28. Her time was also a new school record. Neville's second place finish helped secure the first place spot that the team was awarded at the end of the championship event. It was the first time the women's program had ever wont the title. After the race, she was named to the Conference Carolinas All-Conference First Team.

Members of the sports information office sat down with Jessica to ask her a few questions.

How does it feel to be named Student-Athlete of the month for a second time?
It’s pretty exciting! I am very fortunate to be a part of the women’s cross country program at Queens and happy to positively represent the Queens Community in any way that I can.  

Can you talk about your experience with the cross country team this season?
Running with my teammates this season has been amazing. It’s been exciting to see each of them progress throughout the season.  Everyone has worked so hard and it is all finally paying off. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep the momentum up this next week or so and have good races at nationals. 

What’s different about you and your team from last year?
The main difference this year has been the size of our women’s team. Our coaches have done a good job recruiting talented runners, and this year I was extremely fortunate to have teammates who were constantly pushing and challenging me to run faster.

How does it feel to be headed to the NCAA National Championship race with your teammates?
I’m excited and nervous at the same time.  Qualifying for the national meet has been a goal of ours all season long and this is the first time a women’s team has ever qualified for a national meet. This race will be a good opportunity for us to run against some tough competitors and show the nation what our team is made of.  We obviously have big goals and high expectations for ourselves in this race, as do all the teams who are competing, but when it comes down to it the only thing we can control is ourselves and that is something we have been doing all season long.  

How does it feel to see all the hard work has paid off for your team this season?
It is extremely gratifying. Our team as a whole has worked hard all season long, and knowing that we have put every ounce of effort we have into training and preparing for these last few races makes the fact that we are the first women’s team to qualify for nationals that much better.

What are your goals for the NCAA National Championship race?
Personally I would like to run under 23 minutes for the 6k and earn All American. Our team goal is to have everyone run to their full potential and hopefully finish in the top 25. 

Any fun team rituals?
We always do a team prayer before every race. I think doing this allows us to feel connected with one another. We are able to put aside any differences that we have as teammates and focus on what it is we need to do to be successful as a team.