TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Vanderbilt cross country earned a top-three finish in the women's 8K race as the Dores wrapped up competition on Friday from the NCAA South Regional Championships hosted by Florida State.
“I’m incredibly proud of how our women and men competed today," director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. "The ladies came into the regional championship ranked fourth, we challenged ourselves to rise to the occasion, and they did exactly that with a third-place finish. The men ran with heart, trusted the race plan, and executed what Coach (Chad) Balyo and Coach Lisa (Morgan) asked of them."
The Dores were led by Maggie Jebitok, who completed the race with a time of 20:05.8 to earn spot No. 12. Lily Kreigel finish 14th with a time of 20:08.7 and Betsy Jepkemei came in 23rd with 20:21.7 on the clock. Rounding out the women's race time is Bria Bennis (32nd, 20:35.0), Claire Petersen (34th, 20:43.1), Myrto Valacha (36th, 20:47.3) and Hannah Huyler (70th, 21:21.3).
"Having three women, Maggie, Lily and Betsy earn All-Region honors is a testament to their hard work and commitment to this team," Thomas said. "We now await the NCAA selection announcement to find out whether our team will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships or whether any of our athletes will qualify as individuals."
The men completed the day with a 13th place finish. Sam Darmanie led the Dores in a 56th place finish with a time of 31:23.2 followed by Michael Skora's 31:40.5 time to finish 67th. Vandy finished out with Luke Churchwell (75th, 31:49.2), Finn Richards (93rd, 32:26.3), Jackson Scruggs (103rd, 32:44.8), Brody Chapman (105th, 32:48.2) and Mark Meister (116th, 33:04.0).
"Regardless of what comes next, each and every Commodore did their job and was the best version of themselves today. these athletes represented Vanderbilt and competed for one another. Whenever you have an opportunity to fight for the team ans University it is a great. I’m proud of the seniors, Bria, Lily, Luke, Michael and Jackson. Their legacy at Vandy will always be etched in the bricks they have laid for a successful program.”
Next up is the NCAA Championship event from Terre Haute, Ind. as the Commodores await potential team or individual qualifying announcements. The meet will take place Nov. 21.