by Benny Benton
WINGATE, N.C. – Barton College sophomore Sharon Kiptoo and junior Heather Cuddington both placed in the top half of the field at the 2015 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, which was held Saturday under rainy conditions at the Wingate Cross Country Facility.
Seniors Jamicia Jones and Lauren Yoho also finished their Barton careers by participating in the meet. All four runners competed individually, as Barton did not field a complete team for the event.
Kiptoo, a resident of Eldoret, Kenya, placed in the top fourth of the field by finishing 38th among 182 total competitors with a 6K time of 24:47.3. Cuddington, who joined Kiptoo in earning all-conference honors at the league meet two weeks ago, came in 66th at the regional meet with a time of 25:45.4.
Jones turned in a time of 26:35.4 on the Wingate layout to finish 101st, while Yoho recorded a mark of 28:17.4 to finish 144th. With the muddy track conditions, the times for all four runners were slower than they produced on the same course in September's preview meet.
University of Montevallo won the team competition in the regional after placing all five scoring runners among the top 10. Host Wingate University was second, followed by Queens University. All three teams advance to the national meet, as well as the top three individuals not on any of those teams.
