KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Southeastern University women's cross country turned in a strong performance at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge on Friday, October 23, placing fourth out of 20 teams with 151 points in the women's 5K race.
Junior Izzy Colebank led the Fire with an eighth-place finish, crossing the line in 18:32.58. Colebank's performance secured eight points for Southeastern and marked the team's lone top-10 finish in the competitive field.
Sophomore Joslyn Armstrong followed with a 25th-place finish, recording a time of 19:09.33, while junior Jadyn Deverna placed 36th in 19:26.84. Junior Ashlin Price was close behind, finishing 42nd in 19:33.07.
Sophomore Skyla Stevens rounded out Southeastern's five scoring runners with a 54th-place finish in 19:57.09, giving the Fire a combined team score of 151 points.
Freshman Kate Molloy finished 60th in 20:01.33, while senior Gracie McGee placed 66th in 20:04.35 to complete Southeastern's top seven.
The Fire also received contributions from freshman Elise Porter (70th, 20:06.68), sophomore Acadia Donovan (74th, 20:12.62), freshman Sarina Mays (89th, 20:28.58) and senior Ashlyn Poulin (93rd, 20:35.58).
Southeastern finished behind Milligan, which captured the team championship with 34 points, followed by Cumberlands with 77 and Rio Grande with 90. The Fire finished 25 points ahead of fifth-place UT Southern, which totaled 176 points.
Cumberlands sophomore Lea Kunstmann claimed the individual title in 17:40.72, while Milligan's Joanna Halterman (17:54.71) and Kaylee Coll (18:03.53) rounded out the top three.
Southeastern's top five finishers were separated by just 1:24.51, with all five crossing the finish line in under 20 minutes.
The Fire will return to action on Saturday, November 7, traveling to Ave Maria, Fla., for The Sun Conference Championship.
