Litwiller Repeats, Greenville Adds To Conference Record

Litwiller Repeats, Greenville Adds To Conference Record

Principia College's Sarah Litwiller repeated as St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country champion while Greenville College added to their conference record team titles at Saturday's SLIAC Cross Country Championship.

Litwiller closed out her conference career with another dominant performance on Saturday, becoming just the fourth runner in conference history to repeat as SLIAC Champion. Litwiller led Saturday's race from the start and pulled away over the final two laps. Litwiller finished the 6K course with a time of 22:56, topping the next closest runner by over 30-seconds. Litwiller closed out her career with four top-five finishes at the SLIAC Championships. With Litwiller's win Principia has now had the top runner at the SLIAC Championships in each of the last four years.

Greenville College added to their conference high for women's cross country team championships with their 15th title, first since 2009. The Panthers were led by junior Molly Works and a trio of freshmen as they finished the race with 41 team points. Works took 3rd place with a time of 23:29. The Panthers then had three freshmen place in the top 10, giving them four runners in the top ten finishers. Jordie File took 6th place with a time of 24:16 while Brooke Goodyear came in just behind at 24:25. Krissy Finley finished 9th with a time of 24:53.

Spalding University finished second overall with a score 69 points, placing two runners in the top ten. Casey Richardson paced the Golden Eagles with a time of 24:10, finishing in 4th place, while Janika King finished 10th with a time of 25:03. Westminster College, last year's team champion, finished third with 72 points. Claire Gibby finished 5th with a time of 24:14 for the Blue Jays.

Webster University was fourth with 88 points as Valerie Martin took 2nd place at the meet with a time of 23:29. Principia finished fifth with 101 points, with Litwiller the Panther to place in the top ten.  Fontbonne took sixth with 132 points and were led by Olivia Beggs, who finished in 8th place with a time of 24:30. Running individually Blackburn's Wendy Pocklington finished 54th with a time of 39:30.

Following the race the SLIAC handed out the 2014 awards. Principia's Sarah Litwiller was named the SLIAC Runner of the Year for the second consecutive year. Greenville head coach Brian Patton was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year while Webster University's Valerie Martin was named the Newcomer of the Year.

The 2014 SLIAC Women's Cross Country All-Conference First Team includes Sarah Litwiller (Principia), Valerie Martin (Webster), Molly Works (Greenville), Casey Richardson (Spalding), Claire Gibby (Westminster), Jordie File (Greenville), and Brooke Goodyear (Greenville).

The SLIAC also recongized those student-athletes that best exemplified sportsmanship this season. Those honored include Wendy Pocklington (Blackburn), Claire Becker (Fontbonne), Mallory Wendling (Greenville), Sarah Litwiller (Principia), Rachel Cowles (Spalding), Shiloh Bradley (Webster), and Tiara Pettijohn (Westminster).

For race highlights and interview's click HERE

For complete race results click HERE