HPU Women’s Cross Country Third At VMI Invitational

BUENA VISTA, Va. — The High Point University women’s cross country team placed third in the VMI Invitational on Saturday morning, a preview of the Big South Championship which will be run on the same course on Nov. 2. Freshman Cozette Collin led the team for the third race in a row with a fourth-place finish.

“Our whole objective was to learn the course, know how to run the hills and where to push. That’s what we’re walking away from this with,” said HPU head women’s cross country coach Jenna Wrieden. “This is a really challenging course and I want to focus on making sure our team runs well at the Big South Championship. Coastal and Liberty will make it tough but all we can focus on is ourselves.”

Collin placed fourth with a time of 18:57.08. Runners from three different teams were ahead of Collin, including winner Letitia Saayman from Coastal Carolina, who finished the hilly course in 18:18.17.

High Point’s second through fifth runners finished in a tight pack from 13th through 17th overall. Senior Audrey Malloy placed 13th in 19:45.74 and freshman Katie Farina was right behind in 19:48.28 and junior Sarah Dorrell placed 15th in 19:50.78. Freshman Natalia Ocasio placed 17th in a time of 20:00.28.

Sophomore Julia Zautcke was the sixth Panther to cross the line in 20th overall with a time of 20:04.34 and senior Kayleigh Perry placed 24th with a time of 20:17.29.

Sophomore Erika Peoples placed 28th, junior Krista Willard took 34th and junior Lauren Blackwell placed 44th for High Point.

The Chanticleers won the meet with a score of 43 followed by Liberty at 53 and High Point at 63. Campbell placed fourth with 94 points and UNC Asheville took fifth with 139 points. VMI placed sixth followed by Radford, Charleston Southern, Longwood and Tusculum.

High Point finished third at the Big South Championship last fall after winning the title in 2011.

High Point continues its busy racing schedule at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational next Saturday at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. Women’s teams running in the highly-competitive event include Virginia, Auburn, California, Harvard, Louisville, Navy, North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, Mississippi and William & Mary. The meet is at the same site as the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 15.