October 27, 2012

Douglasville, GA-The Salem College cross country team finished in 2nd by just 1 point to Spelman College at the Great South Championships today. The Jaguars finished in 1st with 27 points and Salem finished 1 point behind with 28. Natali Olveda (Salinas, CA) and Cristi Magracia (Lemon Grove, CA) both made the GSAC All-Conference team with their efforts.

Olveda and Magracia were joined by Bethany Eaton (State Road, NC) on the GSAC All-Academic team for having above a 3.25 cumulative grade point average. Olveda finished in 5th overall in 26:38.16. Magracia came in 6th place in 26:56.41, and Eaton was 10th in 28:04.80. Elizabeth Penley (Newport, NC) and Tali Schroeder (Lexington, VA) were the 4th and 5th finishers for Salem.

Heather Smith from Spelman was the overall winner of the meet in 23:46.40 earning her the GSAC Runner of the Year and Freshmen of the Year honors. The 2nd place finish is the highest finish in the Great South for the cross country team.