McGlinchey Places Second at Mid-Atlantic Regional, Heads To NCAAs; La Salle Women Finish Sixth

View Complete Results | View Photo Gallery

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Meghan McGlinchey continued her stellar fall on Friday, placing second (215 runners) at the Mid-Atlantic Cross Country Championships with a time of 20:23 (6K). As a team, the Explorer women finished sixth in the 31-team field, and sported three top-20 finishes on the day.

McGlinchey's runner-up finish was good enough for the senior to earn a bid to the NCAA Champions in Louisville, Ky. on November 17. The nod marks the first time since 2007 that a La Salle woman will compete in the national meet in cross country (Rachel Papin '05-'07). McGlinchey ran a 23:03 at the Mid-Atlantic Championships a season ago, improving her time by 2:40 in this year's meet.

"McGlinchey's second place finish is the highest finisher ever by an Explorer at the Mid-Atlantic Regional," head coach Dan Ireland said. " We are really excited for her to compete in the NCAA Championships next weekend."

"The goal was to make NCAA's so I'm very happy I was finally able to do that," McGlinchey said. "It was exciting to see Wendy, Steph, and Michelle finish in the top 30,"

Wendy Hutchinson paced the rest of the Explorers, clocking a 21:07, good for a 15^th place finish. Stephanie Bearish was not far behind, crossing the finish line 19^th with a time of 21:13. Michelle Capozzi (21:37, 29th) and Meghan Lutz (22:03, 48th) both registered top 50 finishes as well.

With their top-25 finishes, McGlinchey, Hutchinson, and Bearish took home all-region honors.

"The women ran great today," said Ireland. "McGlinchey, Hutchinson, Bearish, and Capozzi all had their best races of the season.

"To have three all-region athletes is tremendous."

Penn State (61 team points) took the team crown, eeking out a victory on their home course. Georgetown (63 team points), Villanova (96 team points), Princeton (101 team points), and West Virginia (111 team points) finished ahead of the Explorers (113 team points). La Salle was the top performing Atlantic 10 school at the meet, while Duquesne (ninth place) and Saint Joseph's (11th place) represented the conference with strong team results.

La Salle will compete again as a team on November 17 at the IC4A/ECAC Championships in Bronx N.Y. with the exception of McGlinchey, who will be chasing an individual national title.

Complete La Salle Women's Results

Meghan McGlinchey	2nd of 215	20:23
Wendy Hutchinson	15th	21:07
Stephanie Bearish	19th	21:13
Michelle Capozzi	29th	21:37
Meghan Lutz	48th	22:03
Christa Strycharz	94th	22:55
Samantha Gallagher	125th	23:18

Print Friendly Version