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First year Jennifer Gossels was the top Williams finisher at the NCAA New England Regional race at Southern Maine University today. Gossels' 11th place finish helped the Ephs place third, one place out of a finish that would have guaranteed an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
Middlebury and MIT both finished with 63 points to earn the automatic bids, while the Ephs' 99 points puts them in contention to secure an At-Large berth.
Gossels continued her outstanding rookie season with an 11th-place finish in 22:09.1, a college 6k personal best. The Ephs brought out their best packing strategy today, with the second three Williams women all finishing within a 4-second spread. Olga Kondratjeva '10 took 16th overall in 22:19.4, followed closely by first-year Annie Dear and senior Elly Teitsworth in 22:22.4 and 22:23.3 respectively. If Williams receives an at-large bid to Nationals, Teitsworth will be one of only a handful of runners in Williams history to run in the Div. III National Championships all four years of her college career.
Lauren Goldstein-Kral '12 rounded out the scoring for the Ephs in 22:47.8, followed by Ariel Williams '10 (22:48.8) and Meghan Shea '11 (22:58.8). The top 35 runners in the race earn All-Region; Williams had six runners earn that honor today.
All seven runners stepped up to have some of the best races of the season, and the Ephs' consistent performance throughout the season puts them in a good position to earn a bid to Nationals. With Williams' outstanding history of successful performances at the NCAA meet, if the Ephwomen do earn an at-large bid, next weekend's championship in Cleveland, Ohio looks to bring an exciting day of competition for the harriers.
The race was held in rainy, chilly conditions on a course whose track was somewhat slippery on the grassy sections, but good through the woods.
“Despite difficult weather conditions the women got out fast and worked their way up well and posted a strong team result without senior captain Bret Scofield,” stated Eph assistant coach Patrick Wales-Dinan.
