The St. Thomas Aquinas Women's Cross Country Team was named the East Coast Conference Champion for the second time in three years. Junior Keeley Bateman and freshman Meagan Jaskot were named to the All-Conference team.
Keeley Bateman, a three time All-Conference 1st team selection
ran a phenomenal race, leading the Lady Spartans to the
Championship title. She finished in 5th place in a time of
19:15. Jaskot and classmate Gabriela Sloezen maintained great
position early on and worked together in the trail. They
secured 14th and 15th places in times of 20:12 and 20:18
respectively. While Jaskot was tabbed an All-Conference 2nd
Team selection, Sloezan just missed the cutoff. Two
additional freshmen rounded out the scorers for the Spartans with
Cecelia Pfleging crossing the line at 20:23 and Rebecca Fortoul
coming in at 20:38. Junior transfer Allison Boriello's finish
just 17 seconds later locked in the Lady Spartans overall
finish. STAC also received great races fom sophomore Katelyn
Garvey (21:32) and graduate student Julia Karl (21:40).
Ashley Weintraub and Ashley Santa Teresa rounded out the
competitors for the Spartans in times of 24:06 and 24:26
respectively.
"I am very proud of this team," commented 5th year head coach Nicole Ballou. "Only Bateman and Karl knew what it was like to win a championship as they were part of the 2010 team. Bateman leads our team everyday. She is a proven competitor. Our younger runners really stepped up. They have been improving all year and really made it happen for us. It was a true team effort and I congratulate them on this great accomplishment."
The Lady Spartans are not done yet. They will take a weekend off and then compete at the NCAA DII East Regional Race on November 4th.