Childs-Walker leads Carleton to MIAC Women's Cross Country title

http://miac-online.org/news/2011/10/28/WXC_1028114055.aspx

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Cross Country Championship was held Saturday at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul, and the picture-perfect late October day will long be remembered at Carleton College.

The top three runners to cross the finish line were all Knights, and they led the way to a first-place team finish and a conference championship for Carleton. At the front of the pack was senior star Simone Childs-Walker, who had finished in the individual top three each of the past three years, finally claiming the MIAC individual title.

Fellow senior Allyson Smith came in second, junior Rachael Klehm finished third and senior Taylor Ffitch finished seventh to give the Knights four in the Top 10. Freshman Becca Herd was the fifth Knights' scorer with a 20th-place finish to give Carleton its winning team score of 33. That was 19 points better than last year's champion, St. Olaf, which was the runner-up to its cross-town rival with 52 points Saturday.

Gustavus came in third with 82 points, St. Thomas was fourth with 91 and Saint Benedict turned in a team score of 130 to round out the top five. Bethel was sixth with 190, Concordia was just three points back in seventh with 193, and Hamline was a few more points back in eighth with 199. Macalester finished ninth with 233, St. Catherine was 10th with 263, Augsburg was 11th with 351 and Saint Mary's came in 12th with a total of 357.

Childs-Walker's winning time in the 6K race was 22:06, giving her a nine-second win over her teammate Smith (22:15). Klehm's third-place time was 22:18 to complete the Carleton trio at the top. The next two spots went to St. Thomas teammates Taylor Berg and Erin Statz. Berg was fourth with a time of 22:25, and Stats was fifth at 22:32.

St. Olaf's Maren Westby, last year's individual champ, finished sixth with a time of 22:35. Ffitch was seventh at 22:43. Another Ole, Christine Mueller, came in eighth at 22:46 and a pair of Gustaus teammates - Kate Eggers and Brooke Beskau - were ninth and tenth, respectively, with times of 22:50 and 22:55.

St. Olaf's Emma Lee (11th, 23:01), Saint Benedict's Bailey Drewes (12th, 23:04), St. Olaf's Becca Bevans (13th, 23:08), another Ole - Sophie Pietrick (14th, 23:11) - and Gustavus' Elizabeth Hauer (15th, 23:14) rounded out the Top 15, which all earned automatic All-MIAC honors by virtue of their finish at the championships. The next 10 finishers, places 16-25, all received All-MIAC Honorable Mention accolades.

2011 MIAC Women's Cross Country Championship Results

The 2011 MIAC Cross Country Championships were hosted by Saint Mary's University.

CLICK HERE to visit the 2011 MIAC Cross Country Web site, featuring previews, results, recaps and photos.

Courtesy of MIAC