November 14, 2009
Greensboro, NC-The Salem College cross country team ran a strong race at the NCAA South/Southeast Region Meet, which was hosted by Guilford College. The team defeated all Great South competitors in the meet, and avenged a loss to Huntingdon College from the GSAC Championships. Salem finished in 22nd out of 27 scoring teams in the meet. Stephanie Mendez (Atlanta, GA) was the first runner to cross the six kilometer course in 98th place (27:17) out of 189 runners.
The meet was run on a slow course due to the muddy conditions from all of the rain in the past week. Julie Piernikowski (Potomac, MD) finished right behind Mendez in 99th place (27:17). Two Salem runners ran their last collegiate meet at the regionals. Julie Bigsby (Salisbury, NC) and Lauren Meek (Draper, VA) each ran strong races to finish their careers. Bigsby finished in 134th place (28:41), and Meek finished in 140th (28:54). Emily Abel (Otto, NC) was the fifth runner for the Spirits, and she came in 171st (31:26).
Caitlin Masse from Trinity (Texas) College was the first overall runner (22:56), and Rhodes College took the team title at the meet.