Women's cross-country finishes 8th in D2 National Championship
Kjestine Steinbring
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: Sports
The women's cross-country team has made UMD history … twice.
The team traveled to Slippery Rock, Penn. last weekend to compete in the Division II National Championship. This would be the team's second appearance at nationals, the last coming in 1994.
And the team continued to reign victorious, finishing eighth out of the 24 competitors.
Freshman Morgan Place also continued her amazing run and premier as a Bulldog with an All-American seventh-place finish, the best finish for a Bulldog in a national event ever.
Other standout performers included senior Liz Palkie (35th), sophomore Whitney Hines (72nd) and sophomore Michelle SanCartier (129th).
Place, who won six of her nine races, also finished in the top-ten of every race she competed in.
Palkie also added more leadership and momentum to the team.
"The girls we had returning were really good and successful; we knew we'd be pretty competitive in the conference," sophomore Carrie Wardell said.
The Bulldogs were ranked 11th in the nation leading up to the race on Saturday and the team wanted to overcome that mark.
"Our region was tough," head coach John Fulkrod said. "We knew it would be.
"I'm happy for my team to making it to nationals. When only 24 teams in the whole nation qualify, the team had a big opportunity"
And with the Bulldog team being so young, the chance for a return to nationals is good.
"We are really young," Hines said. "The next couple years should be even better if this is what we can achieve now."
Although the season is over, this experience will live on forever.
"This is so exciting," Place said. "I was telling my mom the other day, 'what are the odds that UMD's team would make it to nationals for only the second time in my first year on the team?'"
Obviously the odds were in the Bulldogs' favor.
The team traveled to Slippery Rock, Penn. last weekend to compete in the Division II National Championship. This would be the team's second appearance at nationals, the last coming in 1994.
And the team continued to reign victorious, finishing eighth out of the 24 competitors.
Freshman Morgan Place also continued her amazing run and premier as a Bulldog with an All-American seventh-place finish, the best finish for a Bulldog in a national event ever.
Other standout performers included senior Liz Palkie (35th), sophomore Whitney Hines (72nd) and sophomore Michelle SanCartier (129th).
Place, who won six of her nine races, also finished in the top-ten of every race she competed in.
Palkie also added more leadership and momentum to the team.
"The girls we had returning were really good and successful; we knew we'd be pretty competitive in the conference," sophomore Carrie Wardell said.
The Bulldogs were ranked 11th in the nation leading up to the race on Saturday and the team wanted to overcome that mark.
"Our region was tough," head coach John Fulkrod said. "We knew it would be.
"I'm happy for my team to making it to nationals. When only 24 teams in the whole nation qualify, the team had a big opportunity"
And with the Bulldog team being so young, the chance for a return to nationals is good.
"We are really young," Hines said. "The next couple years should be even better if this is what we can achieve now."
Although the season is over, this experience will live on forever.
"This is so exciting," Place said. "I was telling my mom the other day, 'what are the odds that UMD's team would make it to nationals for only the second time in my first year on the team?'"
Obviously the odds were in the Bulldogs' favor.
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