Rossner heads to W.X-C Districts

Penn is sending just one representative to the NCAA District II race. For most of the Penn women's cross-country team, the season is over. Junior captain Meredith Rossner, however, has at least one more crucial meet remaining. This Friday, Rossner will compete in the NCAA District II Championships at Lehigh. This tournament is a qualifying tournament for the NCAA Championships that will be held later this month. If Rossner, who finished 49th at last weekend's Heptagonal Championships, hopes to advance to the NCAA Championships, she definitely has her work cut out for her. It is not at all easy to qualify for the championships as an individual. The majority of runners will qualify by being on one of the top teams. Depending upon the results, at least the top two teams and the top four runners not on one of the top teams will qualify for the NCAAs. "We all know that it is very difficult to qualify as an individual, but Meredith should definitely gain some valuable experience for next year," Penn assistant coach Crickett Batz-Shaklee said. "I feel like Meredith is really ready to start running her best." Penn usually sends several runners to compete in the District II Championships. However, this year's team is extremely young and is coming off of a very disappointing Heps performance. "The Heps were a very difficult race for our team," Batz-Shaklee said. "The rest of our team needs a mental and physical break so that they can start training for the indoor season." At Heps, Penn finished in last place out of nine teams. Rossner was the only Quaker to finish in the top 50. Penn's decision to run only Rossner at Lehigh is understandable. After Heps, in which Penn was clearly the weakest team in the field, it seems unlikely that the Quakers would be able to handle this weekend's competition, which will be even stronger. "Our effort at the Heps will never be repeated," Batz-Shaklee said. "No one wants to end their season on a down note like this." Unless Rossner can somehow qualify for the National Championships, this race will represent the end of a cross-country season that has seen the Quakers suffer through one problem after another. Two top runners, Susie Cook and Neha Amin, quit the team partway through the season, and numerous others have been plagued by injuries. "We have had something go wrong at virtually every meet," Rossner said. "It feels like we have been cursed." The Heps were certainly no exception. Penn found out two days before the race that Stephanie Bell would be unable to run due to respiratory problems. "Even with Stephanie, we would have been last in the Heps," Batz-Shaklee said. "But that was a devastating blow to our team, especially mentally." The loss of Bell meant that only one runner out of Penn's preseason top five, Rossner, was able to finish the season. Rossner has definitely been Penn's most consistent runner this season and that is why she will be running at Lehigh. "I am excited to compete in the District Championships," Rossner said. "It is a great opportunity for me to run against some tough competition."

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