November 12, 2012

Winston-Salem, NC-  The Salem College cross country team continues to improve in the 2nd complete season for Head Coach Jamie Williams. The Spirits finished in 2nd place in the Great South Championships, falling by just 1 point to the host Jaguars of Spelman.

Williams gives a lot of credit to junior Natali Olveda (Salinas, CA). Williams says "Natali was our most consistent runner and top finisher all season." Olveda finished in 5th-place at the Great South Championship and was awarded by being placed on the GSAC All-Conference Team. Cristi Magracia (Lemon Grove, CA) also was placed on the GSAC All-Conference team and was consistently the 2nd finisher.

The Spirits will lose 2 seniors, Bethany Eaton (State Road, NC) and Amber Miller (Mebane, NC). "Our seniors showed much improvement over previous seasons and both will be missed next year," says Williams. Eaton and Miller were both regularly in the top 5 for the Spirits this season.

The other top 5 runners this year for the Spirits were Tali Schroeder (Lexington, VA) and Elizabeth Penley (Newport, NC). "Tali missed most of the season with a broken hand and returned to running only 2 weeks before the GSAC meet and finished in our top five, plus the addition of first-year Elizabeth Penley was a boost to our program," says Williams. Penley finished in the Salem top 5 every race. 

Eaton, Magracia, and Olveda were honored on the GSAC All-Academic team also.