T-Bird Times

Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: courtesy of Marcia Pounds Freshman Danielle Cope leads two Emporia State runners during the meet September 28 at Emporia State University. The Lady Thunderbirds place 10th as a team with 253 points as one of two community colleges at the race.

Qualifying for Nationals was the main focus for the girls cross country team at Emporia State last Friday. For the girls to qualify for Nationals, they have to finish the race under 23 minutes and four of the five runners qualified.

"We try to get the girls to qualify under 23 minutes to go to Nationals. We had four girls that finished under the 23 minute mark, and that's what we kind of use as a benchmark to get our girls in," Coach Harry Kitchener said.

The four runners who qualified were freshman Danielle Cope and sophomores Cheyenne Niehues, Laura Shumard and Allee Gillespie. Cope led the Thunderbirds finishing 23rd in a time of 20:16. Niehues ran the course in 21:29 placing 45th.

"Danielle ran a good time. Cheyenne ran 21:29, she's a little bit off right now, not running as well as she did a year ago. She ran about 20:20 or so, so she's about a minute off. We hope she can pick that up towards the end," Coach Kitchener said.

"I felt pretty good about my race. I was happy with my time because it qualified me for nationals. Finishing 24th at a race where there were a bunch of 4-year schools present was also exciting," Cope said.

Shumard finished in 22:07 placing 55 and Gillespie placed 58 in a time of 22:24. Sophomore Erica Burgess was the lone Thunderbird yet to qualify as she finished the race in 25:01 placing 72. The Thunderbirds, one of two community colleges at the race, finished 10 as a team with 253 points.

The teams next race will not be till next Saturday, Oct. 13 at Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chillipepper Invitational.

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