GOLDEN SUNS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS FINISH THIRD OVERALL
AT LAST WEEKEND'S NCAA D-II SOUTH REGION MEET

        SEARCY, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech’s Women’s Cross Country runners finished third overall as a team here at last weekend’s inaugural NCAA Division II South Region Track and Field Meet held at Ted Lloyd Track on the Harding University campus. The NCAA D-II South Region Meet concluded Tech’s spring running schedule.

Tech, who runs cross country during the fall season, runs in several outdoor track meets during the spring to keep in shape and also train for next cross country season.

“Our kids performed well last weekend and that was a nice way for us to end our training,” Tech Cross Country Coach Tom Aspel said.

At the South Region Meet, Tech scored 45 points to finish third out of five teams. Alabama-Huntsville took home the team title as the Lady Chargers scored 199 points, while Harding finished second after scoring 192 points. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Morehouse College took home the team title as they scored 214 points to outdistance Harding (184 points) and Alabama-Huntsville (124 points).

Despite scoring 45 points, Tech’s contingent of five runners managed to set five new school records during the one-day meet.

Freshman Melissa Pollreis (Gravette, Ark.) set a new school record in the 10,000-meter run as she ran a time of 43:49.22 to finish in first place. In addition to Pollreis, junior Molly Fleming (Cabot, Ark.) set new school records in both the discus (13.39 meters) and javelin (19.71 meters), while sophomores Brianna Greene (Harrison, Ark.) and Kayla Waldrup (El Dorado, Ark.) set new schools in the shot put (8.20 meters) and the 400-meter hurdles (1:18.57) respectively.

At last Saturday’s meet, Fleming finished fifth in both the discus and the javelin, while Greene finished fifth in the shot put, sixth in both the discus (10.82 meters) and javelin (17.10 meters), third in the 400-meter dash (1:05.30) and seventh in the 200-meter dash (29.38). Pollreis finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run (11:41.53), along with her first place finish in the 10,000-meter run.

Other finishers for Tech at the meet included redshirt freshman Eimear O’Brien (Sligo, Ireland), who finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:43.07, while Waldrup finished eighth (5:20.24) in the 1,500-meter run and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles and Tech’s 4-x-400-meter relay team ran a time of 4:35.18 to finish in third place.

           -- Tech Athletics --