AVE MARIA, Fla. (November 7, 2020) – With five runners among the top seven finishers, the Southeastern Fire won the 2020 Sun Conference Women’s Cross Country title on Saturday. The championship was the third for SEU in the last four years.
 
Junior Julia Rohm, the 2020 TSC Runner of the Year, took the individual title, running the five-kilometer course (North Park on the campus of Ave Maria) in 18:36.0. Rohm finished 23 seconds ahead of teammate Reanna Pabon, who finished second with a time of 18:59.
 
Ave Maria’s Mary Goetz earned an automatic bid as an individual, finishing third with a time of 19:22.0.
 
In addition to Rohm’s first-place finish and Pabon’s second-place result, SEU placed junior Isabel Oliveto in fourth (19:35.5), junior Makenzie Johnson in fifth (19:51.9), and sophomore Emma McLaughlin in seventh (20:16.3).
 
Other top-10 finishers included Webber International’s Kendal Clark, who finished sixth (20.05.3), Keiser’s Chanaiya Richards, who finished in eighth (20:20.0), and USCB’s Alexa Lashley (9^th – 20:24.8) and Jenitza Trinidad (10^th – 20:35.8). As the top finishing freshman, Lashley was named this year’s TSC Freshman of the Year.
 
Following SEU (19) in the team race were Ave Maria (80), USCB (84), Keiser (107), St. Thomas (111), Webber International (124), and Thomas (187).
 
The Fire earned The Sun Conference’s automatic berth into the 36-team NAIA Championships.
 
The Sun’s All-Conference teams and special awards were announced at the conclusion of the race.
 
The top seven finishers in the Conference Championship are named to the All-Sun first team, with the seventh-through-14th finishers making up the second team. The Freshman of the Year is the top frosh finisher in the conference meet. The Runner of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the sport’s Champion of Character award winner were chosen in a ballot of the head coaches.
 
The 2020 Sun Conference Women’s Cross Country All-Conference Awards:
 
First Team
Julia Rohm (JR), Southeastern
Raeanna Pabon (SR), Southeastern
Mary Goetz (JR), Ave Maria
Isabel Oliveto (JR), Southeastern
Makenzie Johnson (JR), Southeastern
Kendal Clark (SR), Webber International
Emma McLaughlin (SO), Southeastern
 
Second Team
Chanaiya Richards (SR), Keiser
Alexa Lashley (FR), USCB
Jenitza Trinidad (JR), USCB
Sage Lyons (JR), Webber International
Anna Morris (FR), Ave Maria
Kathy Macedo (SO), Southeastern
Madison Lilienthal (FR), Southeastern

Runner of the Year
Julia Rohm (JR), Southeastern
 
Freshman of the Year
Alexa Lashley (FR), USCB
 
Champion of Character
Mary Goetz (JR), Ave Maria

Coach of the Year
Paul Kurtz, Southeastern
 
             
ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now entering its 31st year, The Sun Conference, a 501c3 organization, continues to be one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Under the guidance of Commissioner Dustin Wilke, the league sponsors championships in 18 NAIA sports: Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field and Women’s Volleyball.  Corporate sponsorship of the Conference has increased ten-fold; but most importantly, every Sun Conference member institution earned the NAIA’s prestigious 5-Star Champions of Character Award in each of the last five years. Learn more @ thesunconference.com