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Mount Mary University Athletics
Mount Mary Blue Angels

Cross Country concludes season at NCAA Midwest Regional

Bavlnka (416), Barker (415) and Schellinger (420) conclude four-year careers with one of MMU's best team finishes at NCAA Regional Saturday.
Bavlnka (416), Barker (415) and Schellinger (420) conclude four-year careers with one of MMU's best team finishes at NCAA Regional Saturday.
Posted: Nov 16, 2013

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Mount Mary cross country team has posted one of its best seasons in school history this season, consistently in the thick of team races throughout the fall racing season.

Saturday Morning, the Blue Angels capped off a stellar season with a 35th-place finish out of 45 participating schools at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Augustana College. It was one of the highest finishes at the Regional meet in school history.

"This day will go down in Mount Mary University cross country history as an important milepost," head coach Eugene Miranda said. "Today Emily Barker, Laura Bavlnka and Vanessa Schellinger ran their last cross country race for Mount Mary—they are the first three runners to run all four years of their collegiate careers."

"It also marks an important milestone for me as they will always remind me of when I truly had a team of five committed runners. Before they came on the scene, I had to recruit athletes from other teams to just have the minimum of five runners that are required to make up a team."

The Blue Angels peaked at the right time this season, as senior Emily Barker (Oconomowoc, Wis.) set a new personal mark and school record 6-kilometer time, smashing the 24-minute mark this season coming in at 23:34.3 Saturday. Individually, Barker crossed in 80th place overall in a race of 282 participants.

Senior Vanessa Schellinger (West Bend, Wis.) recorded her second-best 6K time of the season, at 27:10.4 and freshman Hayley Hove (Golden Valley, Minn.) was right behind her with a time of 27:45.5.

Sophomore Danielle Sherrer (Milwaukee, Wis.) posted her personal record for a 6K with a strong finish of 28:02.0, slashing 19 seconds off her previous mark. Senior Laura Bavlnka (Wauwatosa, Wis.) was the fifth scorer for MMU, posting a time of 30:00.1 in her final career race.

With the season officially concluded, coach Miranda is hopeful for the future: "It was a wonderful season and I feel confident that with each passing year we will get better. I hope all of our runners keep up with their fitness in the offseason."

"A sad farewell to our three seniors who contributed so much to the Mount Mary cross country program. Emily, Laura and Vanessa kept my hopes alive of having a team of committed runners and I will miss them dearly."