Hardeeville, S.C. - The No. 8 Southeastern women's cross country team finished first at the Sun Conference Championships, held at Hardeeville School Complex Saturday morning. With the victory, Fire have qualified for the NAIA National Championship.
This is SEU's second Sun Conference title in women's cross country in the last three years. SEU's top seven finishers all earned All-Sun Conference recognition.
Sophomore Julia Rohm was second overall in the women's race, navigating the 5,000-meter course in a school-record time of 18:06.8. Rohm was 13 seconds behind SCAD's Lemi Wutz, who finished in a time of 17:53.3.
Eight Southeastern individuals placed in the top 15 of the race. Junior Raeanna Pabon placed fifth with a time of 18:53.9. She and Rohm earned First Team All-Sun honors.
Five SEU women placed back-to-back, starting with freshman Madeline Scherer placing eighth (18:59.7), Makensie Johnson with 19:07.6 was ninth, and then just two seconds later Kelsi Ogilvie placed 10th with 19.09.7, with all earning Second Team All-Sun Conference recognition.
Emma Woltjer finished 11th with a time of 19:14.2. Just 0.2 seconds later, junior Macy Peterson finished 12th to both earn second team honors.
Emma McLaughlin and Jenycha Rivera placed 15th and 19th, respectively.
The Fire won the team title, finishing with a total of 34 points. SEU ended with a 14-point advantage over second place team SCAD with 48 points.
Southeastern will race in the NAIA Nationals on Friday, November 22nd in Vancouver, Wash. Park at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
