GALLOWAY, N.J. - Senior
Hailey Shreffler ran the best race of her Eastern career, and one of the best in program history, as Eastern Women's Cross Country put forth a strong showing at the 2024 NCAA D3 Metro Championship on Saturday morning. Shreffler earned her second All-Region honor of her career, and four other Eagles recorded season-best performances. The Eagles finished in 14th place out of the 25 teams who competed, tied for the second-best regional finish in program history.
Shreffler, after placing 20th in the regional race two years ago, finished in 13th place on Saturday with a time of 22:51.3. It was the best finish of her Eastern career, surpassing her time of 23:27.0 at the LHU Invitational back on Sept. 24, 2022. Her 13th place finish was the highest-ever placement for an Eastern women's runner at the Regional meet, surpassing Mary Bernotas' 18th place finish in 2021. Addtionally, it was the fifth-fastest 6k run in program history.
First-year runner
Julia Wade was Eastern's second-best finisher with a time of 25:11.6, the second-best time of her collegiate career so far, while senior Anatasia Sider-Rose recorded a career-best time of 25:42.2. She shaved nine seconds of her previous best time of 25:51.5 at the Interregional Border Battle earlier this season. Fellow first-years
Tierra Hill (25:48.4) and
Gisella Croge (26:44.5) also recorded season-best times on Saturday.
"A great way for our ladies to end a benchmark year like this one," Eastern Head Coach
Kiehl Smith said. "They ran well today. Hailey had a phenomenal race, put together a great body of work at MACs and Regionals, and it was a great way to end her cross country career. Ana and Tierra had great performances too. They worked together really well to move up through the pack and eventually finish together. A great display of teamwork and strength in numbers. I am proud of this team and what they've accomplished this season. The future is bright as we look to return 8 of our top 10 as sophomores next year."
The NCAA D3 Cross Country Championships will take on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terra Haute, Ind.
