JOPLIN, Mo. – Sophia Strange led Oklahoma Baptist once again at the NCAA Central Regional Championships on Saturday morning. As a team, the women placed 13th and second among Great American Conference schools.
Strange finished seventh of 217 participants in the 6K event, crossing the stripe in a personal-best time of 21:00.19. With her placing, Strange has the chance to be selected at-large for next week's NCAA National Championship at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
Strange earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors for her efforts.
Olivia Lynch was the next Bison to cross the finish line at 56th (22.21.17), while freshman Mekenzie Connell claimed 69th in 22:33.02. Both were personal-best times.
Rounding out OBU's top-100 placers was Jade Robinson, who ran a career-best mark of 22:48.3 for 86th.
Shayna Hendrix (112th, 23:14.75), Kaylen King (112th, 23:14.75), and Jadyn Pavlik (117th, 23:17.33) concluded the Bison's participants.
Winona State won the team title with 52 points. Augustana was second and Pittsburg State was third, as all three teams will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship.
In addition to the top three team finishers of each region, ten at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division II Cross Country selection committee.
Individual qualifications for nationals are as follows:
- The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship finals (16 individuals total).
- All individuals who finish in the top five at the regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championships finals.
- The next eight individuals will be selected at-large.
