Kansas City, Mo. – The Central Methodist University women's cross country team finished their 2016 season on Saturday afternoon at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. The meet was held at Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri, and was hosted by Avila University. The Eagles finished in 4th place out of 14 total schools.
"We had what I think was our best team race of the year," said CMU Director of Cross Country Mark Nelson. "Allison (Ng) was great up front for us, Megan (Greener) had her best race of the year, and both Sarah (Kurpjuweit) and Abby (Cross) were close to their personal best times."
Nelson continued, "It was a bittersweet day for Allyson (Ng), as she improved her personal best time by 20 seconds, but she missed qualifying for Nationals by one place; by less than a second. Allyson's (Ng) time moved her to 12th on the CMU All-Time list. Both of our seniors Allyson (Ng) and Megan (Greener) ran well today and have been good leaders for our team. They are great examples of what a student-athlete should be, and I hope our returning runners learned a lot from them."
Individually for Central, senior Allyson Ng (SR/Kansas City, Mo.) led the team with a total time of 19:02.46. She finished in 13th place individually. Right behind Ng, was fellow senior Megan Greener (SR/Kansas City, Mo.) who place 17th, with a time of 19:22.51. Sarah Kurpjuweit (JR/Humansville, Mo.) finished in 34th place, with a time of 19:55.76, and Abby Cross placed 47th with a time of 20:30.22. Veronica Hancock (JR/Bolivar, Mo.) placed 53rd, while Shannon Feurt (JR/Garden City, Mo.) and Alyssa Thomas (SO/Knob Noster, Mo.) finished 58th and 59th respectively. Also competing on Saturday for the Eagles, was Rachel Howieson (SR/Sedalia, Mo.).
MidAmerica Nazarene University took home the team title Saturday, while Lauren Benzing took home the individual title. Benzing finished with a time of 17:48.50. She finished 28 seconds faster than the second place finisher.
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