CANTON, NY - Utica College graduate student Kaitlyn Stinson may be on her way to the NCAA Championships again. Stinson took care of her end of the bargain on Saturday. She ran to a 17th place finish at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships for her best-ever finish at the meet, and the Pioneers placed 24th with a team total of 721 points at the meet contested at St. Lawrence University.
The race was conducted at the six kilometer distance on the Ronald C. Hoffman Cross Country Course.
Stinson crossed the line in a time of 23:06, and averaged a 6:12 mile. Her 17th place performance is the second best all-time by a Pioneer at the regional meet. She will find out her nationals fate on Sunday when the NCAA Committee unveils its At-Large team entries to the championship to be held in Louisville, Kentucky. The top two teams in each region automatically qualify, and the committee will take who they feel are the next sixteen best teams. Once those teams are selected, the seven top individuals not on a qualifying squad will be invited to join the field. Stinson previously accomplished the feat with a 20th place finish last year.
Freshman Sarah Sharpe performed well in her first regional meet as she finished 138th with a watch of 25:35. Sophomore Laura Levi was Utica's third finisher in 179th place and a time of 26:31. Junior Kristin Daino also got into the chute in the top 200 with a 189th place finish in 26:44.
Utica's fifth, sixth, and seventh finishers came in together with a differential of just 20 seconds. Elizabeth Darling was 216th in 27:49, Sarina Cannavo was 217th in 27:54, and Alyssa Winberg was 218th in 28:09.
Utica had a pack average of 25:57 at the event. 45 colleges were represented at the race, with 274 runners on the starting line.
Stinson will await tomorrow's NCAA Selection Announcement, which is expected from the national office before 3 p.m. on Sunday. The remainder of the Pioneers team will prepare for the indoor season, which kicks off at home on December 13th and 14th.