CLINTON, Miss. (October 10, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's cross country team ran a final tune up race before their conference championships, finishing 5
th out of 19 teams at the Watson Ford Invitational hosted by Mississippi College on Saturday morning at Choctaw Trails.
The Badgers finished with 195 points and an average team time of 25:38 (2:08.14 total time) over the 6,000-meter course while competing against a mix of NCAA and NAIA competition. The hosting Choctaws took home the team title with 32 points and an average time of 22:59 (1:54.56 total time).
Senior
Mary Elizabeth Shelton of Jacksonville, Ala. scored 14 points to pace the Badgers with a time of 23:49.5 for the 3
rd best 6k time in SHC women's history. Sophomore
Madeline Knightly of Chicago, Ill. also posted the 18
th best time for the distance at 25:41.3 for 38 points. Jazmin Hernandez of the Choctaws earned the championship with a time of 22:18.7 over a field of 163 runners.
Junior
Cat Dulle of St. Charles, Mo. finished with 43 points in 26:03.0; freshman
Victoria Morera of Redlands, Fla. collected 49 points at 26:18.1; and freshman
Claire Morgan of Mobile, Ala. finished the SHC scoring with a time of 26:22.6 for 51 points.
Also running for the Badgers, were freshman
Grace Forbes of Franklin, Tenn. who ran a time of 26:45.3; freshman
Fae Fox of Mobile in 28:08.8; junior
Marley Bright of Sardis City, Ala., in 29:07.0; freshman
Jordan Jernigan in 29:21.3; sophomore
Cassidy Dilks of Altoona, Iowa in 29:54.0; freshman
Ava Courtney of Chicago, Ill. in 30:13.5; junior
Meredith Tuttle of Baton Rouge, La. in 30:23.3; and junior
Caroline Weisinger of Mandeville, La. who notched a time of 31:20.8.
After the meet, SHC head coach
Craig McVey stressed his team's adaptability for a tough competition. "We took another step on Saturday," he said. "Our women, to a person, competed really hard. They raced at 6,000 meters which is our NCAA Regional distance, so it was a great prep race for that, but also the course was redesigned in 2020, so since we didn't compete last Fall, it was totally new to us. Given all of that, we raced really well."
He also recognized his senior runner for her leadership. "Mary Shelton had a phenomenal day," he said. "To be 15
th in a field like we had today is a great finish. For a number of our people, it was their first collegiate 6,000-meter race, so how we raced in that circumstance is a definite plus."
He concluded, "This was a tough meet. To beat four NCAA Division I programs is really special. We raced smart and made a lot of progress in some areas that we've wanted to work on. We now have two weeks to finish getting ready for our conference meet; every day is important."
The Badgers will next run at the 2021 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Cross Country Championships in Rock Hills, S.C. on Friday, October 22. The SHC women are the two-time defending champion of the event, taking titles in 2018 and 2019 with the 2020 event canceled due to Covid-19 Global Pandemic.
