Junior Emily Regan finished 156th overall at the NCAA Division II National Championships for the Skyhwaks.

McBride places 83rd overall to guide Skyhawks

JOPLIN, Mo. (November 17, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's cross country team, making its 13th-straight appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championships, finished 23rd overall out of 32 teams at Missouri Southern State University on Saturday afternoon.

Grand Valley State claimed its second Division II National Championship in program history edging out Augustan (S.D.), the defending national champions, by three points (101-104). Adams State finished third overall with 109 points, Western State was fourth overall (172) and Chico State checked in at fifth (200).

"The women ran a solid race today, they were within 15-seconds of their personal records but the field has just gotten so much more competitive, so all-in-all we just have to readjust for next season," said Stonehill head coach Karen Boen. "I think the women ran really well, the field is just that good. The spread was 52-seconds through our one-through-five and at this level every eight seconds five people cross the line, it's that tight."

Senior captain Caroline McBride (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) posted the Skyhawks top finish on the afternoon racing to 83rd overall on the 6-kilometer course in 22:00.4 Junior Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) ranked 98th overall with a time of 22:18.6 while senior captain Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic) placed 150th overall in 22 minutes and 46.4-seconds

Junior Emily Regan (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regional) and sophomore Emily Anderson (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) rounded out Stonehill's top-five with times of 22:49.4 and 22:52.0, respectively. Regan crossed the finish line in 156th overall and Anderson came in at 161st overall.

Junior Sarah Biggers (Cortland Manor, N.Y./Lakeland) ran a time of 23:05.0 to finish 182nd overall and sophomore Brianna Venturo (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) finished 241st overall in 25:05.7.

The Skyhawks earned their 13th-straight appearance to the NCAA Division II National Championships after winning its fourth-straight NCAA East Regional title on Sunday, November 4.

Stonehill also captured its fourth-straight Northeast-10 (NE-10) title on Saturday, October 20 besting the field by 15 points. The top-seven runners for the Skyhawks all earned All-East Region accolades and All-Conference honors this season.

"This has been a great season for these women, not once have they stepped on the line and had a bad day," said Boen. "The work ethic is great and the dynamic of this team is great. Locally and regionally our depth helped us a great deal but at the National level you really need that one superstar in the top-25 to lower your score."