Bishop posts All-America performance with 36th place finish overall
SPOKANE, Wash. (November 23, 2013) – The Stonehill College women's cross country team, ranked 20th in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, and ranked first in the East Region, ran to a 25th place finish among 32 teams competing at today's NCAA Championship held at the Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane.
Senior Chelsea Bishop became the fifth All-American in program history with her 36th place overall finish. (PHOTO BY Shawn Toner) |
Senior captain Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) became the fifth All-American in program history, as she finished 36th overall and first among the seven Stonehill participants in 21:47.3. Bishop has competed in six races this season, and each time she has been Stonehill's top finisher.
Past Stonehill All-American performers include Meghann Shanahan, '04, in 2000, Diana Chivakos, '05, in 2004, Kelly Chaisson, '07, in 2006, and most recently, Erin Carmone, '13, in 2009.
The senior also posted her best finish in three tries at the NCAA Championship, as she placed 98th last year at the event hosted by Missouri Southern University, and 113th as a sophomore in 2011 in Spokane, at the same complex that hosted today's event.
Classmate and fellow captain Emily Regan (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regional) was the second Skyhawk to complete the six-kilometer course, doing so in 22:58.2, good for 140th place overall. Regan was able to top her 156th place finish at last year's Championship.
Senior Emily Regan was the Skyhawks second finisher today. (PHOTO BY Shawn Toner) |
Senior Elizabeth LaRegina (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) followed Regan in 164th place, as she clocked in at 23:13.7, and only eight spots later came junior Emily Anderson (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) in 172nd place. Anderson was the fourth Skyhawk to cross the finish line in Spokane today, as the earned a time of 23:20.3.
Grand Valley State University (Mich.) earned the top spot at today's NCAA Championship, winning with a dominant 54 point effort, followed by Adams State (Colo.) University (91 points), Western State University (194 points), Alaska Anchorage (214 points), and Augustana College (236 points).
Senior Jennifer Agnew of the University of Mary (N.D.) won the individual title with a 20:50.7 mark, followed by senior Jessica Macy of Pittsburg State (Kan.), junior Allyson Winchester of NCAA Champion Grand Valley State, junior Tara Dooley of Northeast-10 rival Bentley University, and senior Samantha Johnson of Ferris State University (Mich.).
The final three Stonehill participants to compete today were junior Brittany Venturo (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy), and freshmen Aisha McAdams (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) and Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North). Venturo placed 200th overall today out of 244 participants, as the junior completed the course in 23:48.8.
Competing in their first NCAA Championship, McAdams and Borofski finished 216th and 220th, respectively. McAdams posted a time of 24:18.1, while Borofski, the 2013 Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year, completed the course in 24:26.2.
2013 Northeast-10 and East Region Coach of the Year Karen Boen had high praise for Bishop and her team as a whole. "Chelsea is amazing, she has gotten better every year," Boen said. "This was probably one of the best years that we have had in a long time. The Division II National Championship continues to get more saturated every year with very strong athletes, and I am very proud of the way our women performed today and this entire season."
