Rensel Makes NAIA National Championship Field
November 6, 2016
Shelby Rensel became the first Reinhardt cross country female runner to qualify for the NAIA National Championship Meet as the freshman placed 12th at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship, helping RU place fourth in the conference in 2016.
As a team, the Lady Eagles improved four spots from an eighth place finish in 2015. "To place 8th last year and come back and finish 4th behind 2 Top 10 teams in the nation & a team that's receiving votes is phenomenal," said RU head coach Jordan Turner. "These women shattered my expectations coming into the season. They bought in to what we are trying to build for our cross country program and showed we are a program on the rise."
Rensel also earned a Second Team All-Conference nod and was also named to the AAC All-Freshman team thanks to her time of 20:07.7 on the 5-kilometer course.
Reinhardt finished even on points with Truett McConnell, but the Lady Eagles would take fourth place via a tiebreak. Melanie Gerdes was RU's second finisher in 21:54.9; however, she and Rensel were behind TMU's top two finishers in the final standings. It would come down to Reinhardt's next three finishers. Pam Lalo was just behind Gerdes, finishing in 21:56.7, but beating TMU's third finisher. Fourth was Jazzmine Gonzalez, who actually also finished less than two seconds in front of TMU's third finisher finisher with a time of 22:19.9. TMU's fourth finisher came across the line, but following just behind was RU's Jenna Chance, who placed fifth for RU at 22:27.2. When TMU's next finisher came in three places later, the points ended up tied and Reinhardt took fourth on the tiebreaker.
"I can't say enough about the senior leadership of Jazzmine and Kaylee Rinesmith this year," said coach Turner. "They paved the way for our success this year many years ago when we struggled to have a full scoring team but perservered to the end and I'm thrilled for them to go out on a high note like this."
As a team, the Lady Eagles improved four spots from an eighth place finish in 2015. "To place 8th last year and come back and finish 4th behind 2 Top 10 teams in the nation & a team that's receiving votes is phenomenal," said RU head coach Jordan Turner. "These women shattered my expectations coming into the season. They bought in to what we are trying to build for our cross country program and showed we are a program on the rise."
Rensel also earned a Second Team All-Conference nod and was also named to the AAC All-Freshman team thanks to her time of 20:07.7 on the 5-kilometer course.
Reinhardt finished even on points with Truett McConnell, but the Lady Eagles would take fourth place via a tiebreak. Melanie Gerdes was RU's second finisher in 21:54.9; however, she and Rensel were behind TMU's top two finishers in the final standings. It would come down to Reinhardt's next three finishers. Pam Lalo was just behind Gerdes, finishing in 21:56.7, but beating TMU's third finisher. Fourth was Jazzmine Gonzalez, who actually also finished less than two seconds in front of TMU's third finisher finisher with a time of 22:19.9. TMU's fourth finisher came across the line, but following just behind was RU's Jenna Chance, who placed fifth for RU at 22:27.2. When TMU's next finisher came in three places later, the points ended up tied and Reinhardt took fourth on the tiebreaker.
"I can't say enough about the senior leadership of Jazzmine and Kaylee Rinesmith this year," said coach Turner. "They paved the way for our success this year many years ago when we struggled to have a full scoring team but perservered to the end and I'm thrilled for them to go out on a high note like this."