The Claremont College CMS women’s cross country team is headed to the NCAA Division III championships in Cleveland, Ohio after competing in Saturday’s West Region meet. The Athenas finished third and earned an at-large bid.
The Athenas edged out SCIAC rivals Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental College, following close behind Whitworth University, who won the race, and Whitman College. Jennifer Tav脙漏 ’12 led the team with a second place finish, the top individual finish for CMS since 2002. Julia Rigby ’12 matched her 11th place SCIAC finish and finished fourth in SCIAC. Breanna Deutsch ’12 earned all-region honors by finishing in the top 35, as did Tav脙漏 and Rigby. Two first-years, Laura Wyatt ’13 and teammate Aubrey Zimmerling ’13 of CMC displaced Pomona-Pitzer’s fifth runner to provide the two-point margin which advanced the Athenas to the Nationals.
The 2009 NCAA championships will be the Athenas’ 12th appearance in the national, where 32 teams and 280 runners will compete. The meet will be hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, on Saturday, November 21.