Pavlus, Saints Win 2009 Atlantic Regional Title
The No. 6 Saints won the program's first Regional title on Saturday to earn an NCAA bid.
Nov. 14: The No. 6 St. Lawrence University women's cross country team is headed back to the NCAA Championships, as the Saints captured the program's first Atlantic Regional title on Saturday to earn an automatic bid into the national title race. Junior Wendy Pavlus led the charge, as she successfully defended her individual crown.
St. Lawrence won the regional title at Letchworth State Park with a total of 43 points, 31 ahead of second place Geneseo State. NYU finished third overall with 138 points followed by Ithaca (163) and RPI (181).
The Saints picked up three top-5 finishes in the regional championship, including Pavlus' victory which came in a time of 21:22. Senior Johannah Ludington was third overall in 21:47 while sophomore Jenna Hulton finished in fifth position in 21:58.
Perhaps Saturday's most-clutch performance came from junior Megan Derby. The Grafton, NY native, who is competing in her first season of cross country running, delivered a huge 9th place finish in 22:18, all but sealing the Saints' victory. Senior Hillary St. John rounded out St. Lawrence's scorers in 25th position in 23:03 to knock off four-time defending regional champion and host Geneseo State.
"The ladies ran a great race today and have so much to be proud of," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Howard. "To have six runners earn All-Region honors really shows the depth we've had all season."
The top-35 runners are awarded All-Region honors, which included each of the five St. Lawrence scorers as well as sophomore McKayla Nuffer, who ran 29th overall in 23:09. First-year student Jackie Lemme picked up a 40th place finish in her first regional championship race (23:27).
St. Lawrence will compete in the 2009 NCAA Championship race, hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, OH next Saturday, November 21.