Women's Cross Country Takes 13th at National Championship

Results

LOUISVILE, Ky. ? The Cornell women's cross country team concluded a terrific season Saturday afternoon, finishing in the top half of the field at the NCAA National Championship race with a 13th-place showing.
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The Big Red, appearing in the national championships as a team for the first time since 2001, had its best finish since 1993 when it took fourth. Cornell placed 30th in 1998 and 2001.
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Cornell, competing in a 31-team, 253-athlete race that had all of the country's best teams, handled itself well and performed better than its No. 16 national ranking entering the meet.
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For the second time all year, Rachel Sorna was the Big Red's top runner, taking 32nd place and scoring 23 points for the team over the six-kilometer course. She crossed the finish line in 20:12.0 and was the second Ivy League finisher in the entire race.
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Katie Kellner, the team's top runner most of the year, was right behind Sorna in 34th place. The Ivy League champion and senior co-captain scored 25 points with her run in a time of 20:12.8, less than a second behind Sorna. Both Kellner and Sorna were named All-Americans for finishing in the top 40 of the race, making them the Big Red's first All-America runners since Laura Woeller in 1993. The Big Red was one of just eight teams on the day to have multiple All-Americans.
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The Big Red's third runner on the afternoon was junior Devin McMahon, who took 123rd place and 92 points. McMahon, who raced in the national championship as an individual in 2010, finished in 20:56.1.
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Cornell's fourth finisher was Emily Shearer, crossing the finish line in 21:03.4 for 140th place and 107 points. Freshman Caroline Kellner was the final scorer for the Big Red, taking 171st place and scoring 137 points.
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Also running for the Big Red was senior Kate Rosettie (182nd, 21:24.0) and senior co-captain Genna Hartung (183rd, 21:24.8). Hartung was the fourth-best seventh runner in the race.

The Big Red had an improved start as a team compared the Northeast Regional Championships last week and both Sorna and Kellner put themselves in good position early on. In the top 50 halfway and through 3K in under 10 minutes, the pair moved up very well and passed 11 people in the final 3000 meters.

McMahon yet again saved her best race of the season for her final meet, concluding a rock-solid season in which she broke 21:00 in each of her final five meets. Shearer fought hard through a bad side stitch to finish 140th in 21:03.4 to wrap up a truly remarkable campaign in which she finished second at the Heps and earned All-Region honors at the Northeast Regionals. Despite the side cramp that bothered her much of the race, Shearer competed with great heart and found a way to pass 11 people in the final two miles.

Kellner, finished a very memorable rookie campaign by passing 27 people in the final 3000 meters. Rosettie finished up a breakthrough senior year with a great effort in which she was out very well, and Hartung crossed right behind her. Hartung, who was injured while earning All-American honors at the steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, missed most of the summer in recovering and then battled bronchitis the final month of the season.
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Oregon won the national title with 114 points while Iowa State's Betsy Saina was the individual national champion.

Cornell now transitions to track and field season, with competition beginning on Dec. 1 in Barton Hall for the Cornell Relays.

Source: http://cornellbigred.com/news/2012/11/17/WXC_1117125417.aspx

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