Cwik, Sharon Lead Blue Cross Country to Ninth at NCAA Regionals

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Bolstered by a pair of all-region performances from seniors Sonja Cwik (La Cañada, Calif.) and Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.), Wellesley College cross country earned a ninth place finish at the 2016 NCAA Division III New England Regionals at Stanley Park. 

Cwik completed the 6K course in 22:01.80, taking 22nd overall with Wellesley's top time. Sharon finished in 22:13.88, joining Cwik in the top-35 to earn the duo USTFCCCA All-Region honors.

In all, 416 runners and 59 teams competed in Saturday's race, with MIT and Williams earning automatic bids to next weekend's NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. The Engineers placed all five scoring runners in the top-25 to win the meet with 68 points. Williams was second with 71, while Tufts (77), Middlebury (149) and Bates (167) rounded out the top-five. Tufts junior Brittany Bowman was the individual regional champion in 21:14.29.

Seniors Mary Kreidel (Boerne, Texas) and Sara Vannah (Amherst, Mass.) secured the Blue two more spots in the top-100, while first year Eva Paradiso (Burlington, Vt.) completed Wellesley's score on Saturday. Kreidel took 70th in 22:58.53 and Vannah was 95th in 23:20.52. Paradiso finished in 107th with a time of 23:27.96. Also in action for the Blue, junior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) finished in 114th with a time of 23:32.45 and classmate Clare Salerno (Johnson, Vt.) took 195th in 24:39.31. 

Wellesley will now wait for word on team and individual qualifiers for the NCAA DIII Championships on Saturday, November 19.