NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship Results
In its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday, the NYU women’s cross country team produced a 24th-place national finish.
Run over the 6,000-meter course at Highland Hills Golf Course in Highland Hills, OH, the Violets totaled 508 points in the 32-team field.
The University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire won the national title with a total of 171 points.
As she has throughout the season, Joan Kanarkiewicz was the Violets’ top finisher. She crossed the tape in a time of 23:45.4 and took 117th place. In 2008, when she qualified as an individual, Kanarkiewicz posted a 226th-place finish.
Maeve Evans was NYU’s second finisher, taking 127th place with a time of 23:48.6. Kirsten Keller was next for NYU (141st place, 23:54.8), followed by Kerra Vick (160th place, 24:07.4) and Paige Zelinsky (184th place, 24:22.1).
St. Lawrence University's Wendy Pavlus won the race with a time of 21:28.0. Overall, 279 runners completed the race.
"This was a great experience for our runners," head coach Nick McDonough said. "It's a great accomplishment to finish ahead of several other teams in our first time here."
The 2009 season was only the second for the women’s cross country program under McDonough, who has been directing the men’s team for the past 11 seasons.
Significantly, the top six runners for NYU on Saturday (Laura Santoski finished 203rd in a time of 24:37.4) are all underclassmen.
"This shows how far our program has come and where we can go in the future," McDonough said.