November 17, 2008

Grove City sending three to NCAA Championships

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Three Grove City College cross country runners have been invited to participate in this weekend's NCAA Division III Championships in Hanover, Ind. On the women's side, seniors Kristen Carter (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham) and Julia Seward (Elizabethton, Tenn./Science Hill) will make return trips to the NCAA Championships. On the men's side, sophomore Garrett Cichowitz (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer) will make his first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

Carter is making her third trip to the NCAA Championships. She qualified for the Championships by placing second overall at Saturday's NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Waynesburg, Pa. Carter recorded a time of 22 minutes, 6 seconds for 6,000 meters to earn runner-up honors. She is Grove City's first three-time NCAA qualifier in women's cross country. Last season, Carter became Grove City's second-ever women's cross country All-American as she finished 26th nationally at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. As a sophomore in 2006, Carter placed 175th at the national meet.

Seward will make her second appearance at the national meet after taking third overall at the Mideast Championships. Seward posted a time of 22:12 at Waynesburg Saturday. She finished 129th at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

Carter and Seward helped Grove City place fifth out of 41 teams at the Mideast Regional Championships. Both runners earned All-Region honors.

Cichowitz qualified for the NCAA Championships after earning 17th at the Mideast Regional Championships Saturday. He recorded a time of 26:01 for eight kilometers. His effort helped the Wolverines earn ninth in the team standings.

Cichowitz is the 2008 Presidents' Athletic Conference Most Valuable Performer and is aiming to become Grove City's second NCAA All-American in men's cross country. Paul Cameron earned NCAA College Division All-America honors in both 1971 and 1972.

Two other Grove City runners earned honors at the regional championships Saturday. Senior Dan Spaulding (Spencerport, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) finished 22nd overall (26:14) and joined Cichowitz on the All-Region team. Freshman Mary Rachel Robbins (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) captured a spot on the Freshman All-Region team after recording a 75th-place finish. The top 14 freshman runners are awarded Freshman All-Region recognition.

Elisa Pedersen became the College's first women's cross country All-American in 2004. She then repeated as a Division III All-American in 2005. This is the fifth straight season that Grove City has had at least one runner at the NCAA Championships.

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