Women’s Cross Country Prepares for NCAA Regional Meet

Friday, November 13

Princeton, N.J.

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals

Photo by: Don Paul

Women’s Cross Country Prepares for NCAA Regional Meet

11/11/2015 4:30:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh women's cross country team will return to racing action this Friday at Princeton for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals. The women will kick off the day with the 6K race beginning at noon, with the men's 10K race to follow at 1 p.m. Both races will take place at Princeton's West Windsor Fields.

Lehigh is coming off a seventh place finish at this year's Patriot League Championships. Junior Amanda Ruschel was Lehigh's top finisher, crossing the line in 24th place overall (22:28.6). Laura Barnes, Shannon Wright, Ashleigh Thurston, Arielle Weiner, Marissa Karl and Stacie Nadel all rounded out the Mountain Hawks' top seven. Ashley Strysko and Sarah Spring also competed for Lehigh, placing 65th and 69th, respectively.

This season, Ruschel has finished in Lehigh's top seven in all four of her events, highlighted by a team-best 22:28.6 performance at the Patriot League Championships. Barnes was the first Lehigh runner to finish at both Paul Short (21:55.5) and the Princeton Invitational (22:51.2). Wright earned her first career win by breaking the tape at the Lafayette dual meet (23:21.77), and Thurston turned in a season-best time of 23:16.0 for a fourth place team finish at the league championships. Weiner has added a pair of second place team performances, including finishing third overall at the Lafayette dual meet.

At last year's regionals on the Penn State campus, the Mountain Hawks used strong team effort to run to a 13th/29 place finish. Junior Elizabeth Weiler finished sixth overall, becoming the first Mountain Hawk runner to earn a trip to the NCAA National Championships since 2005. Barnes, Weiner, Strysko and Wright were also part of Lehigh's seven competing runners a year ago.

A total of 30 women's teams will compete at this year's Mid-Atlantic Regional, with Patriot League foes Bucknell (8) and Navy (11) both being regionally ranked. In the national poll, Penn State finds itself at No. 10, defending regional champ Georgetown enters the meet nationally ranked at No. 14, while Princeton slots in at No. 23, and Villanova ranks No. 26.

The top two teams at the regional will advance to the NCAA Cross Country National Championships in Louisville, Ky. The top four individual regional finishers (outside of those from teams that qualify) will also receive automatic bids to nationals. Complete national championship qualifications can be found here.

For more meet information, please visit the regional's Championship Central page. A complete recap with results will be posted on Lehighsports.com at the conclusion of each race.

Mid-Atlantic Top 15 Poll

1. Penn State
2. Georgetown
3. Villanova
4. Princeton
5. West Virginia
6. Penn
7. Pittsburgh
8. Bucknell
9. Duquesne
10. LaSalle
11. Navy
12. George Washington
13. Rider
14. Maryland
15. Rutgers