Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships
Bendzinski Leads Women's Cross Country to Eighth-Place Finish at Regional
11/14/2014 5:30:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Freshman Christine Bendzinski ran to a 27th-place finish, just two spots shy of earning all-region honors, to lead the Bucknell women's cross country team to eighth place at the Mid-Atlantic Championships, hosted by Penn State on Friday afternoon. The Bison men's team also had a solid day, taking 10th.
Bendzinski finished the 6k race in 21:22. She was the third-fastest runner from the Patriot League and the seventh among all freshmen at the meet. The race, which had 207 runners, was won by Georgetown's Katrina Coogan in 20:06.
The Bison had five runners finish in the top 60. Senior Katie Jessee, who was coming off a third-place finish at the Patriot League Championships 40th. Behind her were Montana DiPietrantonio (47th), Kate Scott (58th) and Deanna Godby (60th).
“Our ladies ran a solid race to finish eighth overall, which is the highest in recent years,” Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner said. “Bendzinski had an outstanding race and barely missed making all-region. We had a nice tight pack at the two through six runners. Our best two races of the season were leagues and regionals, which is exactly what we were hoping for.”
Georgetown won the women's title with 38 points, four points ahead of second-place West Virginia (42). Princeton (125), Villanova (128), Penn State (155), Penn (183), and Duquesne (209) rounded out the teams in front of Bucknell (223), which finished one spot ahead of its No. 9 regional ranking. Navy (294) and Rutgers (295) came in behind the Bison to round out the top 10.
The Bison men were paced by senior Andrew Garcia-Garrison, who took 36th with a time of 31:08 in the 10k race. Fellow seniors John Dugan and Michael McGowan were 40th and 44th, respectively. All three runners earned All-Patriot League honors two weeks ago, and Dugan was an all-region runner as a sophomore.
Penn State's Matt Fischer topped the field of 156 runners with a time of30:16, leading the Nittany Lions to a third-place finish with 87 points. Villanova won the team title with 41 points, while Georgetown finished second with 74. Bucknell (261) finished behind Lehigh (253) and ahead of St. Joseph's (278).
“We did not get the overall place we were hoping for but we were just 13 points out of seventh,” Donner said of the men's team, which entered the weekend ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Region. “Some of our guys were a bit banged up with injury or sickness this week, but they all battled very hard to give us a top-10 team finish.”
Players Mentioned
