Falcons Jump Up Three Spots in Most Recent Region Rankings

NEW ORLEANS, La.- The University of Montevallo women's cross country team jumped up to sixth in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Southeast Region Poll. The Falcons were ranked ninth for the past four weeks but after a strong showing at the Peach Belt Conference Championship in which three Falcons were named All-Conference and the team finished third the Falcons jumped up to sixth in the poll.

The Falcons now sit behind Queens of Charlotte, Lees-McRae, Columbus State, Lenior-Rhyne and Georgia College.

"I am very proud of our women," said head coach Michael Marquardt. "They have worked extremely hard this fall and they deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments. It is amazing to see how far this program has come over the last couple of years. We are a relatively young program and our accomplishments this year are because of the young ladies that have worked hard this year, but also because of young ladies such as Brooke Deason, Ashton Stansberry, and Jessie Perez who helped lay the foundation."

The team raced to its best conference meet finish in school history as the Falcons finished third among the 11 team field at the Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championship. Three Falcons were named to the All-Conference squads. Freshman Haley Evans (Fairhope, Ala./Fairhope) was named First Team All-Conference while sophomore Ginny Davis (Madison, Ala./Bob Jones) and freshman Kaley Glover (Opelika, Ala./Beauregard) were named Second Team All-Conference.

"Evans, Glover and Davis had exceptional races and I am so proud of them," said Marquardt. "They have done everything I have asked of them. Their training started with their summer plan and carried over into the fall. They ran the miles and they were able to see all their hard work pay off! The best part about all three of them is that they still want more. All three of them thought they could have run better, and they all want to accomplish more."

"I am excited to see where we go from here," said Marquardt. "I believe we will have our best race of the season at the Regional Championships. We had our best ever Conference Championship race last weekend, but it was also a learning experience. We ran our first mile a little fast and we all slowed down a little too much for the last 1000 meters. We will do our best to get sharp and have our best race possible at Regionals." 

The Falcons will next be in competition Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8:30 a.m. as they compete in the NCAA Southeast Region Championship in Wingate, N.C.