The women’s cross country team concluded its season on Saturday, Nov. 21 in the NCAA Championship in Cleveland, which was hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College. The Cardinals finished 14th of the 32 teams in attendance, led by Ravenna Neville ’10, who was named an All-American after finishing 22nd in the field of 280 runners.
“Running at Nationals is the most incredible event to experience,” Neville wrote in an e-mail to The Argus. “There is no higher level in Division III to compete.”
Neville timed in at 22:37.2 over the 6k course, placing third among New England Division III runners behind Maria Monks of M.I.T. (13th) and individual qualifier Kerry Arouca of Westfield State College (19th). Neville had placed second a week earlier in the New England Division III Championship, as the Cardinals qualified for the NCAA Championship with their fifth-place finish among 47 teams.
Behind Neville was Julia Mark ’13, who covered the course in 23:19.8 to finish 70th overall. Rosie Keogh ’13 was next, finishing in 23:43.4 to take 114th. Sarah White ’11 placed 171st with a time of 24:13.5, and Tess Crain ’12 finished exactly 20 seconds behind White (200th overall) to round out the Cardinals’ scoring five and give Wesleyan a team score of 409. In addition, Jessica Sherry ’13 finished 238th with a time of 25:12.2, and Jessica Levin ’11 crossed the line seven seconds later to place 248th.
At Cleveland, the Cardinals placed fourth among New England qualifiers behind Middlebury (fourth), M.I.T. (fifth), and Williams (eighth) and well ahead of 21st-place Amherst, the other NESCAC team in attendance. Wisconsin-Eau Claire took the team title with a score of 171, while Wendy Pavlus of St. Lawrence was the top runner with a time of 21:28.0.
“Our team is comprised of hard-working individuals and I’m proud of what we accomplished,” Neville wrote. “We came a long way to get to this point. We put the time in all season, and went from an unranked team in our region when the season started to finishing fifth in our region. It is a great accomplishment that we finished 14th in the nation.”
In the Nov. 16 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll—the most recent one available on the USTFCCCA website—the Cardinals were ranked fifth in New England (behind M.I.T., Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst) and 19th nationally in Division III. In addition, Wesleyan equaled its highest finish at the NCAA meet in its third trip to Nationals as a team, as the 2004 squad also placed 14th. Neville became the sixth Wesleyan woman to be named an All-American in cross country; Ellen Davis ’07, who qualified individually for the NCAA Championship in 2006 and finished ninth, was the last. The honor is a fitting end to Neville’s career and cements her place among the NESCAC’s elite with a first-place finish in the Little Three race and second-place showing at the New England Championship.
Even with Neville graduating, the Cardinals still have a strong foundation on which to build next season.
“I’m extremely optimistic about the future of the team,” Neville wrote. “Six out of seven of the varsity [runners] return next year and having the experience to run at a championship meet gives the team another vote of confidence to succeed in the future. I see the team only getting stronger every year.”
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