Temple University Athletics
Saturday, October 31
Greenville, N.C. (East Carolina University)
TBA
Temple University
at
American Athletic Conference Championships
Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference
Blanca Fernandez Wins American Women's Cross Country Championship; Remains Unbeaten in 2015
10.31.15 | Women's Cross Country
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Blanca Fernandez made history on Saturday morning, becoming Temple women's cross country's first ever conference champion. Fernandez remained unbeaten in the 2015 season, taking first at the American Athletic Conference Championships in a season-best time of 20:06.
The American title is the fourth for Fernandez, who won two indoor track titles and one outdoor track title earlier this year.
"Blanca taking the win, that's the goal we had coming into this race," said coach James Snyder. "That's never happened on the women's side. Having her take that win over Emily and pulling away with relative ease at the end, that's such an exciting moment for her and for our program."
Fernandez and UConn's Emily Durgin broke away from all other runners with about a mile left, and Fernandez then picked up her pace to finish well out in front, almost six seconds ahead of Durgin.
"I just felt pretty good today," said Fernandez after the win. "Seeing how the race was, I decided to make a move very late. That's what I do when I feel good and confident enough to win the race. So I did, and (Emily) came with me for a bit but then I looked back and saw that nobody was coming behind me, so that's when I said 'ok, I'm winning this race."
Temple sophomore Katie Pinson was the Owls' second finisher, placing 25th in a personal-best time of 21:46.61. Freshman Alexis O'Shea was also in the top 50, taking 44th in a personal-best 22:22.24.
As a team, the Owls finished 10th of 11 teams, coming in ahead of Cincinnati. Tulsa won the team title with three top-10 finishers, with SMU in second place and UConn in third.
"It was a great race for Blanca, but a disappointing finish for our team," said Snyder. "We were 25 points out of sixth which really means just one more runner stepping up. It's a half step forward from where we've been, but there's still a lot of work to be done. My challenge to the girls moving forward is to continue to work together, to find one another and push this along. It'll take a collective group effort and we'll look to rebound at regionals in two weeks."
The Owls will now take the next two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, set for Friday, Nov. 13 at Princeton.
Temple Results
1. Blanca Fernandez, 20:06.00
25. Catherine Pinson, 21:46.61
44. Alexis O'Shea, 22:22.24
69. Katie Leisher, 23:21.93
71. Megan Schneider, 23:32.24
(75). Ashton Dunkley, 23:48.20
(77). Brigit Andersson, 24:32.11
Overall Team Results l Overall Individual Results
Â
The American title is the fourth for Fernandez, who won two indoor track titles and one outdoor track title earlier this year.
"Blanca taking the win, that's the goal we had coming into this race," said coach James Snyder. "That's never happened on the women's side. Having her take that win over Emily and pulling away with relative ease at the end, that's such an exciting moment for her and for our program."
Fernandez and UConn's Emily Durgin broke away from all other runners with about a mile left, and Fernandez then picked up her pace to finish well out in front, almost six seconds ahead of Durgin.
"I just felt pretty good today," said Fernandez after the win. "Seeing how the race was, I decided to make a move very late. That's what I do when I feel good and confident enough to win the race. So I did, and (Emily) came with me for a bit but then I looked back and saw that nobody was coming behind me, so that's when I said 'ok, I'm winning this race."
Temple sophomore Katie Pinson was the Owls' second finisher, placing 25th in a personal-best time of 21:46.61. Freshman Alexis O'Shea was also in the top 50, taking 44th in a personal-best 22:22.24.
As a team, the Owls finished 10th of 11 teams, coming in ahead of Cincinnati. Tulsa won the team title with three top-10 finishers, with SMU in second place and UConn in third.
"It was a great race for Blanca, but a disappointing finish for our team," said Snyder. "We were 25 points out of sixth which really means just one more runner stepping up. It's a half step forward from where we've been, but there's still a lot of work to be done. My challenge to the girls moving forward is to continue to work together, to find one another and push this along. It'll take a collective group effort and we'll look to rebound at regionals in two weeks."
The Owls will now take the next two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, set for Friday, Nov. 13 at Princeton.
Temple Results
1. Blanca Fernandez, 20:06.00
25. Catherine Pinson, 21:46.61
44. Alexis O'Shea, 22:22.24
69. Katie Leisher, 23:21.93
71. Megan Schneider, 23:32.24
(75). Ashton Dunkley, 23:48.20
(77). Brigit Andersson, 24:32.11
Overall Team Results l Overall Individual Results
Â
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
Ep. 9: Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Shaw
Friday, October 03
Ep. 8: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Women's Cross Country Runner Amelia Sabatino
Tuesday, September 30
Ep. 7: Temple Field Hockey Alumna Cherifa Howarth
Friday, September 26
Ep. 6: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Field Hockey's Peyton Rieger
Tuesday, September 23
