The Virginia women's cross country team capped a dream season yesterday by finishing ninth in the NCAA championship meet at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. The Cavaliers competed in their first championship since 1993 when they placed 17th, and enjoyed their highest finish since winning the title in 1984.
"We were ecstatic," Virginia senior Jennifer Owens said. "We were jumping up and down. We had a ton of Virginia fans and it was great that they were jumping up and down too."
After working the entire season to receive an NCAA bid, the Cavaliers were not about to wither in the national spotlight. Instead, Virginia coach Jason Dunn said that the 14th-ranked Cavaliers set a goal for the meet: to finish in the top 10.
"When you're in a program that hasn't finished in the top 10 since [1984], that's a pretty lofty goal," said Dunn, who is in his second season with Virginia. "Every goal we set for ourselves this season, we have accomplished. I couldn't ask for anything more."
Owens, who was the only Cavalier to have NCAA championship experience before the meet, led Virginia with a sixth-place individual finish. She moved up to lead pack after the first mile and a half of the 6,000-kilometer race and never looked back, crossing the finish line in 20 minutes, 43 seconds. She improved on her 27th-place finish in the 1999 meet and was called up to the podium for her top 10 plaque.
"All season, my goal was to be top 10 in this meet," Owens said. "It was fun. It's nice to be recognized."
Owens trailed the leader, Arizona's Tara Chaplin, by 19 seconds. Georgia Tech's Renee Metivier and Stanford's Lauren Fleshman rounded out the top three.
Aside from Owens, none of the other six Cavaliers women had ever run in a race of this size. According to Virginia senior Sarah Folse, the six runners were nervous heading into the race, but became more relaxed as the race progressed.
"You can't go there without being nervous," Folse said. "There are just so many people."
Folse was the next highest-placing Cavalier behind Owens, finishing the race 72nd in 21:52. Dawn Cleary finished 92nd (22:05), Meghan McGarvey placed 96th (22:07), and Ellen Dwyer rounded out the Cavaliers' top five with a 121st-place finish (22:19). Megan Schwartz (176th) and Jolene Hampson (219th) also ran in the meet for the Cavaliers.
After barely missing the NCAA cut last year, Virginia took a giant leap forward with a top 10 finish in this year's championship meet. According to Owens, the effort was just the culmination of rising expectations and increasing talent levels that the Cavaliers have experienced in their two years with Dunn at the helm.
"The talent was there, the depth was there, we just needed to put it all together in a day," Owens said. "We did it over and over again this season. As much as [Dunn] preached it, we believed it."
Dunn hopes that the top 10 finish gives the Virginia women's cross country program another shot in the arm as it tries to re-establish itself on the national stage.
"To get ninth is just a huge step forward for the program," Dunn said. "I hope it's the beginning of our program moving in the right direction."
Sophomore Walton Kingsberry was the Virginia men's lone representative to the meet. Kingsberry finished 68th in the men's 10K with a time of 30:36.
"Walton Kingsberry ran very well," Dunn said. "He ran about 17 seconds faster than he did in regionals last week."
Eastern Michigan's Boaz Chboiywo won the men's race and set a new course record with a time of 28:47. Colorado's Jorge Torres (29:06) and Arkansas' Alistair Cragg (29:10) rounded out the top three men's finishers.
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