RESULTS || DURANT, Okla. – East Central ended Harding's three-year reign as Great American Conference Women’s Cross Country Champions after four Tigers finished in the top 14 to best the Lady Bisons by 20 points on Saturday from Silverado, just north of Durant.
Anna Mora became the first ECU woman to win the GAC Championship individual title as she finished in 17:56.40, six seconds clear of the field. Michaela Lombardi placed second amongst the Tigers and finished eighth. Marisa Meza took 12th and Abbie Winchester finished in 14th.
The Lady Bison finished in second, paced by Madison Drennan, who finished fifth.
Southwestern Oklahoma State and the host Savage Storm each posted the best GAC finishes for the respective programs as the Bulldogs took third and the Savage Storm finished in fourth. SWOSU’s Isela Sandoval crossed in the 10th, the best finish, by position, for the Bulldogs. Southeastern’s Makayla Coppedge finished sixth, the first top-10 result for the program and her time, 18:32.0, shattered the fastest time recorded by a Savage Storm runner at a GAC Championship by more than one minute.
Southern Arkansas took fifth, followed by Southern Nazarene and Arkansas Tech. Claudine Blancaflor finished fourth, the top result for the Lady Muleriders. SNU’s top time came from Kyra Fuller, who placed ninth.
Henderson State placed eighth followed by Ouachita, Northwestern Oklahoma State, and Arkansas-Monticello. The Tigers’ Katie Cunningham finished 19th and the Rangers’ Renee Contreras posted the top result, 16th, and time, 19:20.4, at a GAC Championship in program history.
Oklahoma Baptist's runners competed as unattached individuals. Emily Sechrist, Sydney Lawrence and Daisy Vanmeter led the Lady Bison with top-10 finishes. Sechrist, fifth in 2015, took second to Mora, with Lawrence in third, up from eighth a year ago.
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