West Virginia cross country placed fourth of 27 women’s teams at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals this weekend, capping off a successful 2023 campaign.
Seven Mountaineers competed in Bethlehem, Pa. on Friday, with the team’s top five counting toward the final team score. The runners’ individual placements added to a 120 total for the team, placing WVU fourth behind Georgetown (48), Penn State (79), and Penn (104).
Freshman Lexi Lamb led the Mountaineers with a time of 20:11.1 for 14th place and a spot on the All-Mid-Atlantic Region list. This tournament marked her first collegiate time under 21 minutes for the 6K.
Redshirt seniors Sarah Tait and Katherine Dowie were named All-Regional runners as well, finishing 16th and 21st respectively. Also counting toward the fourth place title were redshirt seniors Jeanne Reix Charat, who placed 33rd, and 36th place Mikenna Vanderheyden.
WVU’s consistency between their five scorers played a massive role in the fourth place finish. All five runners ran between 20 and 21-minute times, giving the team a leg up over Villanova, despite the Wildcats having the first and fourth place individual runners.
After improvements from all runners between the first and second mile, the Mountaineers jumped from seventh place to fourth. The team’s top five scorers kept a very similar pace through the 4000m mark and up to the finish of the race, keeping the team ahead of the Wildcats, who briefly moved into fourth after 4000m.
Though three of West Virginia’s top runners will leave the team next season, the cross country team shows potential for next year. The prospective team includes Lamb, Tait, and a group of 12 underclassmen, including sophomore Tatiana Moura and freshman Audrey Hall, who both ran under 22-minute times in the race this weekend.
West Virginia cross country did not advance to the NCAA Championships in Charlottesville next weekend, making this the last race of the season for WVU.
