Talk about a fast start – the women’s cross country team, now ranked 14th in the nation, has taken the cross country world by storm, finishing in the top five in all four of their races so far this season.
That includes two second-place finishes at the UT Early Bird Classic at Dover Trails on September 9th and at the Lehigh (Pa.) Invitational on Oct.1st.
The women are led by seniors Heather Nicolosi and Jess Butler as well as junior Kaia Hampton, who have finished among the top runners in every meet thus far. Nicolosi finished ninth in the season opening UT Early Bird Classic, followed by a 22nd-place finish at the USF Invite, 12th at the FSU Invitational and 22nd at the Lehigh (Pa.) Invitational.
Meanwhile, Butler finished 20th at USF, 13th at FSU and 20th at Lehigh, and Hamilton placed 7th in the Early Bird, 13th at USF, 16th at FSU and 30th at Lehigh. Other leaders include seniors Katie O’Brien and Lindsey Edwards.
After being paced by Hamilton and Nicolosi in the season opening second place finish, the women finished third at the USF Invite, once again led by Hamilton. At the FSU Invitational on September 23rd, Nicolosi took charge, leading the women to not only a fourth place overall finish, but to a first overall standing among the Division II schools. Then the ladies traveled to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where they once again finished second, this time led by Butler.
The women look to continue this torrid pace in the season’s second half, with the Disney Classic on October 8th coming up next.
Following that is the Sunshine State Conference Championships in Fort Lauderdale, where a strong finish would propel them to the NCAA South Regional meet at Dover Trails, a course they’ve had success with in the UT Early Bird Classic.
A first or second place finish there would send them to Spokane, Washington for the NCAA National Championship meet.
These goals seem within reach for the women’s cross country squad as the team looks to go all the way by capturing the first national championship in program history.
Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan.llanes@spartans.ut.edu.
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