WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Whitman College senior Laura Matsen wrote a storybook ending to a brilliant cross country season by placing ninth and claiming All-American honors at the NCAA Div. III National Championships, held earlier today at Indiana's Hanover College.
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| Whitman's Laura Matsen (#57), shown here running in the Northwest Conference championships, placed ninth and claimed All-America honors at NCAA Div. III national championships, held Nov. 22 at Indiana's Hanover College. |
"Laura was fantastic today," Whitman assistant coach Neal Christopher said. "I had hoped she could finish in the top 15, so it was great to see her make the top ten. It was great to see her make All-American."
Matsen, who did not run cross country in her first three years at Whitman, ran Saturday's 6,000 meters in 22:14.7, finishing just six seconds out of sixth place. Missy Buttry, a junior from Wartburg College, captured her second consecutive national title, winning the race in a course record 20:00.2. Buttry hit the finish line 63 seconds in front of her nearest challenger.
"It's been a great year, and I'm very happy with how the race went today," Matsen said. "I missed not having the rest of the cross country team here, but my brother, parents and Neal were all here. It was also wonderful to see the (support) sign that a bunch of other Whitman varsity athletes had signed and sent along to the race."
Matsen, who won Northwest Conference and West Region titles earlier this month, was Saturday's top finisher from the western half of the country. Leslie Nelson, a senior at Whitworth, placed 14th, while Willamette junior Kari Holbert was 24th. A total of 206 runners finished the race.
"Laura ran a smart, strong race," Christopherson said. "After the first mile, she was somewhere around 35th place. By the two-mile mark, she had established herself in a pack of about eight women who were running between ninth and 18th. She outkicked them all over the last 1,000 meters."
Temperatures for the race hovered in the mid-60s. "The course and weather conditions were good," Christopherson said. "The course was all grass and rolling hills. It was soft and muddy in a few places, but overall it was in good shape."
Matsen is only the third Whitman woman to qualify for the NCAA national championships, and the first to claim NCAA All-America honors. Last fall, Whitman's Sierra Witnov capped her sophomore season by placing 100th at nationals. Witnov is on foreign study this fall and did not run cross country. Jennie Wood, a senior in the fall of 2000, placed 72nd in that year's national championships.
Whitman shifted its national affiliation from the NAIA to the NCAA with the 1995-96 academic year, although its teams did not become eligible for NCAA post-season competition until the 1998-99 year.
Kathleen Gibson posted Whitman's best finish in the NAIA national championships. A senior and the Northwest Conference champion in the fall of 1995, Gibson placed fifth in 18:36 on a 5,000-meter course at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The UW-Parkside course was used each year for the NAIA national championships. Fiona Lloyd, a first-year runner at Whitman in the fall of 1989, placed eighth at nationals that season in 18:18.
Jessica Bissonnette, as a junior in the fall of 1994, finished 11th at nationals in 18:19. Bissonnette, a two-time conference champion, was one of the favorites for the NAIA national title in 1995. She suffered a stress fracture midway through that season, however, and placed 20th at nationals, after having not run for five weeks.