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SEPT.
15 — Goshen Best Of NAIA At Indiana Intercollegiates
Leafs
finish 10th overall and fifth in small-school division;
tops in MCC as well |
Terre Haute, IN — It was another
vastly impressive weekend for the Goshen College women’s
cross country team, as the Leafs finished 10th overall and tops
among NAIA institutions at Friday’s annual Indiana Intercollegiate
cross country meet at Indiana State University.
With 26 total teams participating and competition ranging from
the NCAA Division I to junior college levels, Goshen finished 10th
overall and fifth among the 17 non-NCAA Div. I schools, defeating
all other Mid-Central Conference teams in attendance (Taylor University,
Indiana Wesleyan University, Huntington University, the University
of St. Francis and Grace College).
“Our women had a great showing finishing 10th overall and
fifth in the small-school division,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen
head coach. “We were the first-place team among the NAIA
schools and most importantly tops in the MCC at the meet. It was
a better
team finish for us than last year’s intercollegiates, where
we finished 14th out of 25 overall and seventh out of 17 in the
small-school division (click here for related article). Overall
I don’t think we ran quite as strong as we have been, which
is encouraging to know that we can run even better as a team.”
Senior All-American Petrana Petkova led the push again for Goshen,
finishing 14th overall and third among non-NCAA Division I teams,
or “Little State” division. Petkova’s time of
18:37.4 was over 10 seconds off her 2005 Indiana Intercollegiate
time of 18:27.0 at Indiana University, while the event was her
first dual meet of the season (Petkova missed last week’s
Defiance Invitational due to personal reasons; click here for article).
Also joining the Leafs’ mix for the first time was sophomore
Laura Harnish, who finished second for the team, 28th overall and
eighth in the small-school division in a time of 19:10.9. Harnish
was backed by senior Laura Herr (12th/37th) in a time of 19:29.3,
who was followed by Goshen’s talented trio of freshmen in
Tina Peters (48th/95th, 20:51.0), Whitney Turner (59th/108th, 21:05.8)
and Rachael Baker (69th/122nd, 21:29.5).
“Petrana ran a solid race being nudged out at the finish
for third overall in the small-school division,” Yoder said. “Laura
Harnish was second for the team dropping nearly one minute off
her previous personal-best time.”
A rare mathematical quirk allowed NCAA Division III Anderson University
to finish above Goshen in the small-school results, even though
the Leafs’ composite time was faster than the Ravens’ (Goshen’s
posted a 1:39:16 clip to Anderson’s 1:39.47 time). Goshen
also finished above Anderson in the overall team results, but the
quirky nature of a two-division race kept Goshen out of fourth
place in the Little State standings.
“It’s a deal where if you take out a bunch of runners
that are NCAA Division I runners, some athletes will move up in
the
standings more than others,” Yoder said. “That’s
what happened to us in regards to Anderson. Head to head, we beat
them, but when subtracting big school runners the point totals
favored (Anderson). It’s an odd quirk that can happen when
you try to split up a big meet into two-divisions like this.”
Regardless of how the point totals added up, it was an impressive
finish for Goshen (123 points in the small-school division and
266 points in the overall meet) as the Leafs knocked out the five
other MCC schools in attendance as well as finishing ahead of
NCAA Division I programs University of Evansville (434
points), IUPUI (476 points) and Butler
University (661 points) in the overall competition.
Indiana University’s Jessica Gall won the overall individual
medal, winning the 211-woman race in a time of 17:36.3. Taylor’s
Laura York captured the Little State individual championship, finishing
in a clip of 18:25.9. Indiana University won the overall team championship
with a total 38 points. The University of Southern Indiana won
the small-school division team title with 65 points.
For a complete list of composite individual finishes and times,
click here. For the same results among small college athletes only,
click here. Composite team results from the meet are available
while clicking here, while Little State team results can be viewed
by clicking here.
Goshen will now remain idle until Saturday, Sept. 30, when the
team will travel to Richmond, Ind. to participate in the Earlham
College Invitational. The women are set to begin at 11 a.m.
Goshen Individual Results
(Small School/Composite School Divisional Finishes)
Petrana Petkova (3rd/14th) — 18:37.4
Laura Harnish (8th/28th) — 19:10.9
Laura Herr (12th/37th) — 19:29.3
Tina Peters (48th/95th) — 20:51.0
Whitney Turner (59th/108th) — 21:05.8
Rachael Baker (69th/122nd) — 21:29.5
Tessa Horst (116th/186th) — 23:40.4
Bethany Loberg (132nd/205th) — 26:45.4
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  Senior
Petrana Petkova
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