HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Fresh off their first SSC Title in program history, the Nova Southeastern Women's Cross-Country team left their mark on Saturday morning at the NCAA South Region Championship. NSU punched their ticket as a team to the program's third NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, their first since the 2015 season. Jillian Thorning, the SSC Individual Champion, was the highest finisher for the Sharks, finishing fourth with a time of 21:14.65.
Head Coach Jonathan Carter - As a coach, you do everything in your coaching ability to put your athletes in a position to be successful. Today displayed that our teams understood the assignment of giving it their all to be successful. Our goal for the men's team was to perform within the top 15 teams. We fell one place short of that but the men's team carried out the assignment. As for the women the message was to compete the way you have all season. Eden Toal had some complications near the finish but there was no quit in her as she gave every bit of her toughness to finish the race and helped the women's team advance to the National Championship. Coach Debastos and I are extremely proud to be the coaches of this team. They understand the benefits of gritting and grinding. GO SHARKS!!!!!!
(Women's 6K)
Thorning's fourth-place finish landed her a spot on the All-Region team.
Leena Saidi and Isabella Grant joined Thorning on the All-Region team, finishing eighth and 19th, respectively.
Ally Jakubiak wasn't too far behind, finishing 26th with a time of 22:54.75.
Eden Toal would round out the top five finishers for NSU with a gutsy finish to secure the NCAA Championship berth for the Sharks.
(Men's 10K)
Jaime Blazquez ended his season on a high note, leading NSU and finishing 37th with a time of 32:38.56.
Marc Gonzalez and Will Watson rounded out the top three finishers for the Sharks, finishing 62nd and 76th respectively.
The Nova Southeastern Women's Cross Country team will travel to Sacramento, CA. to race at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship on Saturday, November 23rd.
