Cross Country News Releases
Hawkins takes seventh in school-record time at Central Region Championships
Coming up - Saturday, Nov. 22, at NCAA Division III Championships, L.S. Ayres Complex, Hanover, Ind., 11 a.m.
Ram review - An agonizing three seconds shy of qualifying for nationals last year, Cornell senior Rachelle Hawkins (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly) made amends and punched her ticket to the national meet with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division III Central Region Women's Cross Country Championships Saturday at Oakland Acres Golf Course in Grinnell.
Hawkins reset her own 6-kilometer school record with a time of 22 minutes, 37 seconds in the 182-woman field. She became Cornell's first individual national qualifier in cross country since Kelly Lear in 1993. Hawkins will compete at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships Saturday, Nov. 22 in Hanover, Ind. The women's race begins at 11 a.m. (CST).
"Rachelle Hawkins ran a terrific race to qualify for nationals," Cornell head coach Dan Schofer said. "We focused on the simple strategy that she has executed well all season. She ran smart and controlled early, and tough late. Rachelle came through again for our team, breaking her own school record in really difficult conditions. It was cold and very windy with some light snow. The entire course was soft, muddy and sloppy."
Hawkins garnered all-region status for the second consecutive year. She finished 13th in 22:56 a year ago, when she just missed a national-qualifying berth.
"Missing nationals by three seconds last fall has been a motivator for Rachelle the entire year," Schofer said. "She worked hard to put herself in this position. She has done everything we have asked of her and more. I am really proud of her. It is fitting that she will conclude her college cross country career at the NCAA Championships."
Hawkins paced the Rams to a 15th-place finish, scoring 428 points in the 26-team field. Cornell improved by one place from last year's showing at regionals.
Wartburg edged Luther, 92-95, for the region team title. Marie Borner, of Bethel, claimed individual medalist honors with a time of 21:28.
Cornell's top three finishers were seniors, including Lindsey Kuhlmann (Readlyn/Wapsie Valley) in 76th and Amanda Jepson (Wayland/WACO) in 112th. Completing the Rams' scoring were sophomores Allie Jagielo (Almond, Wis./Tri-County) in 114th, Andrea Aerts (David City, Neb./East Butler) 119th, Ellie Hutchison (Greeley, Colo./Greeley Central) 122nd and Allison Newman (Arvada, Colo./Pomona) 139th.
"The rest of our women ran a good team race," Schofer said. "Lindsey Kuhlmann and Amanda Jepson stepped up once again and closed out their careers with their best regional finishes. We moved up a spot among Iowa Conference schools by beating Simpson and we moved up one team spot from regionals last year even though this year's field included three more teams.
"Our seniors have contributed so much to our program over the last four years. We're not ready to say goodbye yet. Rachelle has nationals this weekend and they're all excited for the track season. There's no doubt the seniors (Hawkins, Kuhlmann and Jepson) have left a deep and far-reaching impact on our program."
NCAA Championships Field - Hawkins is one of seven automatic individual women's national qualifiers from the Central Region, joining Nebraska Wesleyan's Jackie Spelts, Loras' Mary Corken, Coe's Ashley Schnell, St. Scholastica's Katelyn Meger, Hamline's Margot Branigan and St. Olaf's Jennifer Carlson.
The 32-team women's field includes Amherst, Bethel (Minn.), Calvin, Carleton, Case Western, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Colby, Cortland State, DePauw, Dickinson, Emory, Geneseo State, Ithaca, Johns Hopkins, Kenyon, Luther, Messiah, Middlebury, MIT, Pomona-Pitzer, St. Lawrence, St. Thomas (Minn.), The College of New Jersey, Trinity (Texas), Wartburg, Washington University (Mo.), Wheaton (Ill.), Willamette, Williams, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
NCAA Division III Central Region Championships (Nov. 15, Oakland Acres Golf Course, Grinnell)
Final Women's Standings - 1. Wartburg 92, 2. Luther 95, 3. St. Thomas 117, 4. Bethel 165, 5. Carleton 170, 6. Loras 172, 7. Nebraska Wesleyan 191, 8. St. Olaf 200, 9. St. Benedict 239, 10. Hamline 296, 11. Gustavus Adolphus 320, 12. Macalester 355, 13. Central 368, 14. Concordia-Moorhead 383, 15. Cornell 428, 16. Simpson 430, 17. Grinnell 468, 18. Coe 477, 19. St. Mary's 513, 20. St. Catherine 514, 21. St. Scholastica 519, 22. Augsburg 591, 23. Minnesota-Morris 680, 24. Martin Luther 724, 25. Dubuque 828, 26. Crown 847.
Cornell Runners (6 kilometers) - 7. Rachelle Hawkins 22:37, 76. Lindsey Kuhlmann 24:41, 112. Amanda Jepson 25:31, 114. Allie Jagielo 25:36, 119. Andrea Aerts 25:43, 122. Ellie Hutchison 25:50, 139. Allison Newman 26:36.