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CARY, N.C. --
Jen Harpp earned All-Region honors and a trip to the national championships and
Crystal Burnick earned All-Region honors to lead the Slippery Rock University women's cross country team to a third-place finish in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championships Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Rock was a heartbreaking six points shy of earning a team berth in the national championships.
Shippensburg ran away with the title, posting a remarkable score of just 33 team points. Kutztown edged Slippery Rock with 119 points to finish second and earn the final team berth out of the region. The Rock posted a score of 125 points, followed by Edinboro (134) and Millersville (135) rounding out the top-five. Teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference occupied the top-10 positions in the 26-team race.
Harpp ran a phenomenal race to lead Slippery Rock, crossing the line in third-place overall after covering the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:44.7. The top-five finishers or top-two individuals not on a qualifying team earn a berth to the national championships.
Along with her second consecutive trip to the national meet, Harpp also earned All-Region honors with her performance.
Burnick also picked up an All-Region honor, finishing in 11th-place in a time of 22:51.3. The top-25 finishers in each regional meet are crowned All-Region.
Stephanie Case narrowly missed earning All-Region honors after finishing in 30th-place with a time of 23:45.6.
Sally Dugas ran a great race to be SRU's fourth finisher, placing 37th in a time of 24:04.8.
Becky Belding was the final point scorer for Slippery Rock, finishing 44th in 24:15.6.
Becky Younger placed 61st in 24:38 and
Abby Michaelian finished 76th in 24:55.8 to round out Slippery Rock's participants in the 179-runner field.
Harpp will advance to the National Championships Dec. 4 in Louisville, Ky. The 2010 national meet is being hosted by Bellarmine University as part of the Division II Championship Festival.