LAKELAND, Fla.. – Cecilia Light made her first career NCAA postseason appearance at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country South Regional Championship on Saturday.
 
Light debuted by establishing her personal record in the 6k with a time of 25:08.8. The redshirt senior out of Palos Heights, Ill., finished 92^nd individually and became the fifth individual under head coach Craig McVey to make an appearance at the regional championship.
 
Date: Nov. 8
Venue: Holloway Park

Quotable
Head Coach Craig McVey
On the meet
CeCe [Cecilia] ran tough and smart in a really tough field at our NCAA South Cross Country Regional on Saturday. Our region is one of the toughest in the country, so the competition is stiff.  This was her first season of collegiate cross country and her first NCAA Regional, which all set the stage for her race Saturday."

"To her credit, her time Saturday is ranked 13th on our all-time 6,000m list. Her effort Saturday was really good. She had been sick during the week following our conference meet, so we didn't get as much done to prep as I had wanted, it was as much about recovering from illness as it was about training. Especially given all of those things added together, her performance was something to be proud of."

"Her 6k time moves ahead of a number of all-conference runners we've had that helped us win three conference cross country titles and get us rolling along in our NCAA Division II history. She's joined some historic names from our past and will be among them for a long time to come."
 
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