Southern Miss' Janet Rono Finishes Third at the NCAA South Region Championship

Southern Miss' Janet Rono became the first Lady Eagle cross country runner to advance to the NCAA National Cross Country Championship, finishing third overall at the South Region qualifying meet, with a time of 21:15.28 over the 6K-course. The top four individuals, automatically qualify for the national meet.

"This is a very exciting day for Southern Miss women's cross country," Head Coach Dena Dunn-Reif said. "We have never had a runner qualify for the national cross country meet before. We had Hellena Wrappah qualify for the outdoor championships. I very proud of Janet and what she has accomplished this season."

Rono also was named to the NCAA All-South Region team. Georgia Tech captured the team title with 54 points, 48 points ahead of the second-place team South Florida (102). Southern Miss finished 12th out of the 18 teams with 284 points.

"Janet is such a competitor," Dunn-Reif said. "She is one who performs well in meets. She is a great leader. I think she has the potential to place in the top 25 at the nationals."

Rounding out the finishes for Southern Miss include Jessica Crump (40) with a time of 22:48.09, Rose Kuriu (69) with a time of 23:42.88, Keri White (71) 23:45.56, and Oby Amadi (101) 25:42.53. Other Lady Eagles finishes included Tomeka Shaffer with a time of 25:49.22 and Karen Tankersley at 26:10.93.

Rono will compete in the NCAA National Cross Country, Nov. 19, in Greenville, S.C., at Furman University. The women's race is scheduled for 11:15 central time.