HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. – The Gallaudet University women’s cross country team finished eighth overall at the 2012 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships Saturday hosted by Penn St.-Abington at Lorimer Park. GU amassed 204 team points to finish eighth out of 12 official teams, who had five runners finish the race. GU placed eighth last year, albeit with three fewer teams competing, in their first-ever appearance in the conference championships.

With a paltry total of 34 team points SUNY Cobleskill earned its fourth consecutive NEAC championship. Penn St.-Berks finished second overall with 49 points followed by Wells College (81 points), Morrisville State College (107), Penn St.-Abington (156), Cazenovia College (176), Keuka College (181), Gallaudet, Lancaster Bible College (220) and Penn St.-Harrisburg (284). St. Elizabeth College and SUNYIT rounded out the field with 287 and 300 points, respectively.

Wells sophomore runner Emily Middlebrook won the 5K race for the second consecutive year with a time of 21 minutes and 52 seconds as she earned her second NEAC Runner of the Year award in as many years. Penn St.-Berks freshman Laura Keller was named NEAC Rookie of the Year and Cobleskill coach Mitch Tomaszkiewicz took home NEAC Coach of the Year honors.

Freshman Nicole Musey (Prince George, British Columbia) was the top female runner for the Bison, as she crossed the finish line in 26 minutes, 12 seconds – good for 30th place. Gallaudet head coach Mikaela Hudson was pleased with Musey’s performance as she described Musey’s race as “stellar.” Shortly behind Musey was junior Shadoe Williamson (Austin, Texas) in 32nd place with a time of 26 minutes, 25 seconds. Williamson finished in 31st place at last year’s meet. Both women finished shy of All-NEAC honors, as only the top 21 runners earn a spot on one of the three all-conference teams.

Freshman Jill Schellekens (Vancouver, British Columbia) was the next Bison to complete the race as she finished 42nd overall (27:29). Junior Radoslava Slavova (Scranton, Pa.) and sophomore Rachel Young (Leesburg, Va.) finished two spots apart in 51st and 53rd with times of 28:38 and 28:53, respectively. Young finished two spots ahead of last year’s 55th-place finish. The final three runners for Gallaudet were freshman Whitney James (Salt Lake City, Utah) who finished in 65th place (29:35), sophomore Payal Sharmacharya (Olathe, Kan.) who finished in 74th place (33:08) and senior Olivia Malcom (St. Augustine, Fla.) who finished in 86th place (39:25) out of 87 runners.

“The women raced hard today,” said Hudson, who indicated that many of her athletes set personal records with their performances.

Sophomore Lindsey Corthell (Orlando, Fla.), Gallaudet’s top runner, was unable to compete after she sustained an ankle injury a day before the race.

 “I look forward to improvements all around on both the men’s and women’s teams for next season,” said Hudson.

This was the last team meet for the Bison this season as several runners have the potential to compete in a postseason race in November.

2012 NEAC Women's Cross Country Championships

• All-NEAC women's teams (PDF)
• Women's individual results (PDF)
• Women's team standings (PDF)