Women place fourth at IIAC Championships

The Cornell women's cross country team claimed two all-conference performers and tied a program mark with a fourth-place finish at the Iowa Conference Championships Saturday on the campus of Luther College.

Senior Allie Jagielo and junior Leslie Smebak both picked up their first all-IIAC cross country medals for cracking the top 15 in a field of 125 runners. Jagielo came in ninth, recording the highest IIAC finish by a Cornell woman not named Rachelle Hawkins. Smebak finished 15th, edging Loras' Katie Flogel by less than a second for the final all-conference slot.

The Rams had all five scorers place in the top 40. Cornell totaled 101 points, establishing a program record for the lowest scoring output at an IIAC meet. Saturday marked Cornell's best IIAC team finish since taking fourth in 2006, head coach Dan Schofer's first season. The Rams also placed fourth in 1997.

Jagielo covered the six-kilometer course in 23 minutes, 17.6 seconds. Smebak crossed the finish line in 23:38. They became the first set of Cornell teammates on the women's side to garner all-IIAC accolades in the same year since 2006 (Hawkins and Patricia Gonzalves).

"Allie and Leslie are the fourth and fifth all-IIAC women we've had at Cornell," Schofer said. "I am really proud of both of them. They showed incredible perseverance during their careers."

Smebak made huge strides after placing 103rd at last year's championships. Jagielo was 26th the last time she ran at the IIAC meet, in 2009.

"Last year, Allie missed this meet due to injury, and Leslie ran but was recovering from an illness," Schofer said. "They have put in a tremendous amount of work in the last 12 months to get to this point. They truly earned their all-conference honors."

Sophomore Laura Ettlin and freshman Ashley Reynolds both ran personal-best times as Cornell's No. 3 and 4 runners. Ettlin placed 19th in 23:47. Reynolds was 36th in 24:26, topping her previous mark by more than 40 seconds.

"Laura Ettlin had a strong race as our No. 3 runner," Schofer said. "Ashley Reynolds destroyed her previous PR and came through well for us as our No. 4."

Junior Elise Mead was the team's fifth scorer, placing 40th in 24:37. Freshman Hannah Garvey (42nd, 24:38), junior Maria Helgeson (43rd, 24:43) and junior Lauren Seemann (45th, 24:48) rounded out Cornell's top eight.

The Rams finished 23 points behind Loras in third. Wartburg posted a winning score of 28 points, followed by runner-up Luther with 45. Luther senior Emma Spoon was crowned individual champion in 22:34.2.

Cornell finished third in the junior varsity team results, consisting of each team's second seven runners.

"We did not run a perfect team race, but Saturday showed how our program has continued to develop over the last five years," Schofer said. "We are looking forward to taking another step forward in two weeks at regionals. We always seem to run better at the regional meet, and that will be the goal once again."

Coming up - The Rams compete in the Central Region Championships Saturday, Nov. 12 in Waverly. The women's race starts at 11 a.m. Cornell entered the week ranked No. 10 in the Central Region Poll.

The regional is a qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships Nov. 19 in Oshkosh, Wis.