Charlotte, NC – The Dalton State women’s cross country team has won both Southern States Athletic Conference championships that they have been eligible for, but the Lady Roadrunners had not cracked the NAIA Top 25 until the very last day.
The Dalton State women finished 24th in Saturday’s NAIA Championships at McAlpine Park in Charlotte. The Lady Roadrunners tallied 609 points with a combined 5K time of 97:19.2 to edge #25 Morningside (616 points and 97:39.5).
Freshman Emily Poole finished 17th individually to earn All-American honors.
Her time was 18:04.2. Natalie Hensley was 84th with a time of 19:03.9. Mallory Edwards was 146th at 19:44.3. Jessica Brock finished 168th at 20:00.9. Gloria Pascual was 194th with a time of 20:25.9. Olivia Bird was 204th at 20:37.7.
“I’m extremely proud of how well our women represented Dalton State and the SSAC,” said Dalton State Co-Coach Margie Bruner. “Last year our team was a bit overwhelmed by the competition at Nationals. This year the team was ready to race. The girls knew they had to get out fast and run aggressively. That is exactly what they did.”
The coaches were in awe of the performance of Poole. “The freshman ran an unbelievably smart race,” said Bruner. "She has a bright future. Both Natalie and Mallory displayed maturity and ran their personal bests. We are a young team. Gloria and Olivia also ran well.”
Bruner said Brock will be transferring after this semester. “Jessica, in her last race as a Roadrunner, exceeded all of our expectations. She has shown so much heart throughout this season and we will miss her.”
Northwest Christian is the team champion with 98 points and a combined time of 89:42.3. British Columbia was second with 118 points. SCAD Savannah was just ahead of Dalton State with 577 points. The Bees had a combined time just a bit slower than the Roadrunners at 97:22.1.
The NAIA’s best 35 teams and 321 runners were in the meet.