The Ursuline College cross country team completed one of its top seasons in program history with its sixth place finish at the American Mideast Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon at Cedarville University.
Individually, junior Jessica Dingman (Chardon, Ohio/ Berkshire) qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Washington to be hosted on November 21, 2009. The qualifying individuals will be officially posted on Monday afternoon.
Dingman qualified by placing in the top seven individuals that are not on a qualifying team in the AMC Conference Championships. This will be her second National Championship appearance in cross country and her fourth overall appaerance after she qualified in 2008 for both indoor and outdoor track.
With her tremendous individual performance, Dingman was named to the All-AMC Second Team, which is the cross country teams highest conference honor for an athlete since the program was started six years ago. Her 14th overall finish at the AMC Championships was the highest finish ever by an Ursuline cross country athlete.
As a team, the Arrows sixth place finish out of 12 teams, was the highest team finish in program history.
“Overall we had a great day and I was very, very pleased,” said Head Coach David Gramlich.
In a field of 121 runners, Ursuline placed five runners in the top 51. Dingman completed the 5k race in 19:37 for her 14th place finish, while junior Erin Childers (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls) placed 32nd, sophomore Tanisha Williams (Springfield, Ohio/Troy) placed 37th, freshman Sam Turner (Williamsfield, Ohio/ Pymatuning Valley) placed 50th and Erica Casto finished 51st.
For full results, click here.
