Women's Cross Country | Oct 21, 2017
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Saint Leo senior Colett Rampf capped four years of Sunshine State Conference domination by winning the 2017 SSC Cross Country Championship women's 6K race on Saturday at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park.
As a team, Saint Leo finished in second place. The Lions registered 47 points, just four points shy of 2017 champion Embry-Riddle with 43 points. Embry-Riddle recorded all five scorers among the top 15 runners. The four-point difference between first and second place was the closest since the 2014 meet – the Lions' first SSC title – when Saint Leo dethroned six-time champion Tampa by one point.
Florida Tech was a distant third with 88 points, while Tampa was placed fourth with an identical score of 88 points.
Among individuals, Rampf finished with a time of 21:20.79, winning by a margin of almost a minute over second-place finisher Sarah Edens (22:18.40) from Embry-Riddle. With the victory, Rampf became the first four-time SSC cross country champion – among men or women – in conference history.
Rampf led a quartet of Lions who finished among the top 10.
Junior Alyssa Bayliff was third overall with a time of 22:31.25, while junior Laura Csubak was sixth after crossing the finish line in 23:01.61. Senior Lauren Csubak was eighth with a finishing time of 23:24.84.
Senior Haley Roussell was the fifth Saint Leo runner across the line in 30th place, 29th in points, with a time of 24:58.86.
Sophomore Fatima Abu-Rumman (25:23.69) and junior Noemi Anaya (25:47.69) were Saint Leo's sixth and seventh runners to finish, placing 34th and 38th respectively in points.
Senior Tiffany Gargiulo was 45th overall with a time of 26:04.93, and junior Heidi-Jay Churchill was 59th overall after finishing with a time of 27:10.81.
Saint Leo's focus now shifts to earning a fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA championship. That qualifying process takes place in two weeks at the NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Holloway Park in Lakeland, Fla.
The 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships are slated for Saturday, Nov. 18, in Evansville, Ind., at Angel Mounds State Park.
For the latest news, updates, and information on Saint Leo women's cross country and track sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
