GEORGETOWN, TX- Women's Cross Country hosted what would be their second race of the 2023 Season, the Southwestern Showdown, which was a step up in distance from the previous 5k they ran just two weeks prior.
The women kicked off their 6k at 9:00 am for the hilly, windy, and somewhat muddy cross country course with seven other schools. Rachel Chiella, who didn't race in the Southwestern-Concordia Opener, led all Southwestern runners with a 10th place finish with a time of 25:33.9, which is 6:51.4 per mile pace. The women's team placed 5th overall.
Coach Joe Sponsel had this to say about the women's team, "The team responded really well to adjustments I talked to them about after the first meet. They were patient early and stayed in their groups for the first two laps which I believe helped them navigate the tougher conditions and longer distance better. Most of our returners ran similar times or were faster than they were at this race last year, plus our newcomers are just learning the distance. I usually don't put too much stock into times at this point in the season but it shows that we're making progress even when we don't feel great after the race. We were also missing a few runners in the results after a couple had to drop for medical reasons and one had a tennis tournament to play in. I'm looking forward to having everyone back together and healthy at our next meet to really see how far we've come."
Women's Top5:
10) Rachel Chiella, 25:48.7
13) Breanna Steele, 26:17.2
31) Jordan Hollub, 28:07.1
32) Casey Gilbert, 28:16
36) Halle Martinez, 28:28.8