CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Queens University of Charlotte’s women’s cross country team entered the NCAA Division II Cross Championships unranked but finished with an overall team place of 20th. Adams State College defended its national title while Grand Valley State was second.
The Royals, in their first national appearance, were buoyed by junior Jessica Neville's (Cold Spring, N.Y., Haldane) 56th place finish in the 184-runner field. Surprisingly, Neville posted, like most of her teammates, a personal best time of 22:21.3 on the tough hilly course. Freshman Maraya Slatter (Benson, N.C., West Johnston) was second-man for Queens finishing in 81st with a time of 22:46.9. Senior Meagan Nedlo (Mt. Pleasant, Tex., Pittsburg) also broke into the top 100 and dipped under 23:00 with a 22:57.5 94th place. Rounding out team scoring for the Royals was sophomore Holly Annas (Granite Falls, N.C., South Caldwell) in 144th at 23:48.3 and freshman Katie Snow (Brewer, Me., Brewer) in 178th at 25:39.4.
“This course was easily the toughest we have run,” said coach Scott Simmons. “The surfaces were safe and fair and the weather was fine, but this course presented extremely challenging hills. And to be at nationals for the first time, I was impressed with our performances. Nearly everyone ran a personal best on this course, which says a lot for their efforts.”
Queens was the top finisher from the Southeast Region, as well, defeating region champ Columbus State by a whopping 136-point margin after finishing runner-up to the Cougars by a one-point margin earlier in the month.