LOUISVILLE, Ken. – Both Sarah Rapp and Paige Kvartunas will conclude their senior seasons at nationals after placing in sixth and seventh places, respectively, at the 2014 NCAA Southeast Regional, leading the Virginia Tech women’s cross country team to a fourth-place out of 40 finish overall. The men’s team finished in sixth place out of 37 overall.
Rapp and Kvartunas nearly crossed the finish line at the exact same time in the women’s 6K race separated only by six-tenths of a second. Rapp crossed the line 20:27.8 while Kvartunas finished with a time of 20:28.4. Despite coming in sixth and seventh places, Rapp and Kvartunas earned bids to nationals because the first and second-place teams, William & Mary and Virginia, placed a combined total of three runners ahead of them. The top four overall finishers outside of the top-two teams automatically qualify for nationals.
The next finisher for the women was Shannon Morton, who posted a 19th place finish with a time of 20:51.5. Hilary Krein finished in 23rd place with a time of 20:54.8. Closing out the Hokie scoring was Hannah Green who posted a 42nd place finish behind a time of 21:16.2.
The men’s team finished sixth overall at the meet led by Stuart Robertson who posted a 17th place finish in the men’s 10K race with an overall time of 30:37.6. Behind him was Patrick Joseph in 25th place with a time of 30:56.1.
Next to cross the line was Darren Barlow in 30th place with a time of 31:01.4 while Andrew Gaiser and Neil Gourley closed out the Hokie scoring with 42nd and 43rd-place finishes, respectively. Gaiser ran his race in a time of 31:13.9 while Gourley concluded with a time of 31:14.5.
By finishing in the top 25, Rapp, Kvartunas, Krein, Morton, Robinson and Joseph all earned All-Region honors.
Both Rapp and Kvartunas will race again next weekend on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Indiana at the 2014 DI Cross Country NCAA Championships. Other Hokies will await their fate to see if they receive an at-large bid.
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