Friday, November 14
Fayetteville, Ark.
12:00 PM
Rice University
vs
NCAA South Central Regional
Roper Advances To NCAA Championships
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 14, 2014
NCAA South Central Regional Re 
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas - Rice sophomore and reigning C-USA champion Cali Roper added another milestone to her stellar year on Friday, finishing fifth at the NCAA South Central Regional to clinch a spot and advance to the NCAA Championships to be held next week in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Roper, a native of Willis, Texas, helped lead the charge for an Owls team that placed fifth overall (147 points) at Agri Park, behind only Arkansas (29), Baylor (82), SMU (113) and Lamar (140). Roper becomes the 11th different Owl to advance to the NCAA Championships and the first since Becky Wade went in 2011. Roper's time of 20:14 in the 6K race also set a Rice record.
"It's just tremendous for Cali to be able to advance to the NCAA's," Rice head women's cross country coach Jim Bevan said. "She's put in a lot of hard work and is very deserving."
Roper was named to the NCAA All-Regional Team for placing in the top 25, as were teammates Katie Jensen (18th-20:56) and Madi McLellan (21st-20:58), each of whom set lifetime bests in a 6K race. Other Owl competitors were Eleanor Wardleworth (47th-21:43), Hannah Kay (62nd-22:03), Allie Schaich (74th-22:22) and Ellen Diemert (142-25:49, who raced despite feeling ill entering the race).
"The course was fast so obviously the times were fast," Bevan said. "I'm real proud of the team as a whole. Madi finished as the No. 2 freshman in the region and all six runners set lifetime bests in the 6K. Ellen Diemert raced despite getting sick yesterday and Elsa Racasan was unable to go because of a foot issue. But we had a good year, the best finish we've had in a number of years. The best news is we return virtually the entire team aside from Allie (senior). We're already looking forward to getting back out there next year."
-RiceOwls.com-
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/ Women's Cross Country
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