GEORGETOWN, TEXAS- The Women's Cross Country team traveled to Abilene, Texas for a 6k race hosted by Abilene Christian University.
Five schools toed the line from various NCAA Divisions for the ACU Niamadu Classic. The Pirates were led by Rachel Chiella with a time of 24:29.15 which was good enough for 20th place. Right with her in 21st place was Breanna Steele in 24:31.91. Jordan Hollub was third place for the Pirates with a time of 25:00.66 and in fourth place was Sarah Rothe, with a time of 27:10.88. Rounding out the Top-5 for the Pirates was Casey Gilbert who finished in 27:39.88.
Coach Sponsel had this to say about his womens team's performance, "we showed our improved fitness last week at DBU, but in a much smaller meet at ACU I wanted to build on that fitness and focus on just racing. The women took to the challenge well and each time they came around the loop, they were ahead of another competitor. Just about everyone ran a PR and we beat our conference competition which always feels good. Combining the two skills, using fitness to compete, is what it's going to take to achieve our goals at the conference and regional meets which are coming up quickly and I'm very pleased with the process and results of the season so far. "
Ultimately the Pirates finished in fourth place, beating out SCAC competitor TLU by four points.
Next up for the Pirates will be the SCAC Championships, hosted by Texas Lutheran University, on October 28th.