SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In their final team meet of the 2021 season, the USF Dons' cross country team faired well among the best in the west. Redshirt sophomore
Ruby Smee continued her stellar season by coming in second place overall and clinching her spot in the NCAA Championships next week in Tallahassee, Florida.
The women's team finished in sixth place overall and third among WCC schools with a total score of 202. While the men came in at No. 21 overall with a team score of 573. It's still to be determined if the Dons women's team will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, with the selection show on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT.
Smee had the best time on the women's side at 20:01.06, while
Daniel Maneloveg had the best mark for the men at 30:56.6 good for the No. 52 overall ranking.
FINAL RESULTS:
Women's 6K:
2.
Ruby Smee 20:01.6
24.
Eve Jensen 20:33.3
28.
Baneet Bains 20:36.8
73.
Anna Tait 21:18.2
75.
Zoe Wassell 21:21.1
83.
Abby Pradere 21:32.5
134.
Maddy Hamilton 22:21.8
Men's 10K:
52.
Daniel Maneloveg 30:56.6
64.
Ed Kiolbasa 31:13.3
139.
Caleb Haugland 32:55.7
154.
Hiruy Alemseged 33:16.5
173.
Ben Preddy 33:41.9
CATCHING UP WITH COACH RILEY:
"I'm really happy with the men's and women's teams today. To have our best performances at the West Regional was our goal at the start of the season and my hat is off to our student athletes who pulled it off. Most years finishing sixth on the women's side would qualify you for the NCAA Championships, but unfortunately we might come up short this year. Individually, having Eve and Ruby finishing All-Region was incredible and having Ruby representing the Dons in Tallahassee is keeping up the tradition of USF's presence at the NCAA Championships. I really want to thank our seniors
Maddy Hamilton,
Anna Tait,
Zoe Wassell,
Daniel Maneloveg and
Ed Kiolbasa for their stamp on our program and they will be surely missed."
FOLLOW US:
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