SALISBURY, N.C. – The Anderson University women's cross country team ran well in the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Championships, finishing second with a team time of 1:55.42 and a score of 53 in the 6,000m.
Wingate clinched the conference championship with a score of 34 and a team time of 1:53.49. The United States Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) had the Trojans ranked fourth, with Wingate holding the No.1 spot and ranked 10th nationally. The Southeast region poll features 10 teams, five of them coming from the SAC.
Whitney Hanson, Jodi Ann Martin, and Elise Matthews led the way for the Trojans, coming in 8th (23:02.4), 9th (23:03.6), and 10th (23:08.7) respectively. Emily Golden (23:11.11) and Faith Nelson (23:15.6) finished in 12th and 14th.
Sarah Rudolph (24:18.1), Rebecca Ward (24:23.0), and Emma Whitaker (24:24.0), ran well in a pack to take 26th, 27th, and 28th. Hagan Wilson took 36th place in a time of 25:27.2, and Aubrey Quillen finished in a time of 25:59.5 to round things out for the Trojans at 39th place.
"We used our strength of having a tight pack of runners together to our advantage," said coach Kevin Eagle. "We had several question marks going into the race due to sickness. The girls battled it out and ran an extremely smart race. Now we just have to get healthy within the next two weeks for NCAA regionals so that we can continue our season at the national meet."
Next up for the Trojans will be the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday (Nov. 19) hosted by Wingate University in Charlotte, N.C. More information can be found at www.autrojans.com.
