WACO, Texas – No. 12 Arkansas Razorback women’s cross country took the title win at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, held at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas.
The Razorbacks took the team title with 51 points. Rice and Baylor tied for second with 61 points. Rice will receive the automatic bid after winning at head-to-head competition. Arkansas finished three runners in the top 10, five runners in the top 20 and all seven finishers in the top 42.
The Razorbacks now have 15 regional titles to their credit. Since the regional meets were first conducted in 1982, Arkansas has been among the top three teams every season and has been one of the two automatic bids to the NCAA Championships 22 times.
“We had to be tactically smart this race and especially intelligent with our effort,” head coach Lance Harter said of his team’s performance. “The NCAA Championships are only eight days away and we didn’t want to give it all we had today and have nothing left for NCAAs. That’s where our focus is. We wanted to get the win without over extending ourselves. Our scorers were on 24 seconds apart. We were right where we wanted to be, according to our plan. We got the effort we needed and didn’t have to drain the tank emotionally or physically.”
Catherine White was the top Hog in Waco. She earned a fourth-place finish with a 6,000-meter time of 20:49.2. She has been Arkansas’ lead runner in all six races this season. To date, only 11 runners have crossed the line ahead of her this season.
Denise Bargiachi was Arkansas’ second scorer with a seventh-place finish overall. She clocked a 6K time of 20:57.1. Christine Kalmer was 10th with her clocking of 21:04.9. Jillian Rosen and Dacia Perkins finished 14th and 16th to round out the scoring five, respectively, with times of 21:09.7 and 21:14.5.
Also competing for the Razorbacks were Megan Jackson (25th; 21:50.3) and Samantha Learch (42nd; 22:27.7).
White, Bargiachi, Kalmer, Rosen, Perkins and Jackson earned all-region honors for their top-25 finishes.
Arkansas will compete next at the NCAA Championships, Mon., Nov.24, in Terre Haute, Ind. For more information about the NCAA Championships, visit . For more information about Arkansas Athletics, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
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