Uhrich Earns All-Region Honors
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/16/13)— Melissa Uhrich saved her best for last at the NCAA Regional Meet on Saturday at St. Olaf. The sophomore ran a 23:28 to earn All-Region honors for the first time in her career.
Uhrich is the first All-Region award winner for the Cobbers since 2008 when Hailey Brenden placed 16th at the meet.
Uhrich's performance helped Concordia finish in the top 20 as a team. The Cobbers up-and-down injury-riddled season culminated in an 18th-place spot at the season-ending championship meet. What makes Uhrich's performance even more special is that Saturday was her very first regional meet.
A pair of seniors closed out their careers as the team's No.2 and No.3 runners. Morgan Christian and Hannah Knickerbocker have been the poster athletes for dedication and perseverance and they gritted through a pair of top 100 performances. Christian clocked a 24:29 and crossed the tape in 97th place while Knickerbocker was 1-second behind at 24:30 and was the meet's 100th finisher.
The team's remaining four runners all came home in a pack and finished the 6k race within 20-seconds of one another. Sophomore Heather Olson came home first in a time of 25:24. Like Uhrich, it was Olson's first time running in an NCAA Region Meet. Olson led the way for Kathryn Stalnaker, Callie Christianson and Paige Rygg. Stalnaker was 14-seconds behind Olson and recorded a time of 25:38. Christianson was on the back of Stalnaker and finished in 25:39 while Rygg completed her collegiate cross country career with a mark of 25:44.