Simpson improves from 2008; Ellingson earns all-region honors

GRINNELL, Iowa - The Simpson women's cross country team improved three places from last year's regional meet, placing 13th of 26 teams at the 2009 NCAA Divsion III Central Region Championships at Oakland Acres Golf Course on Saturday.

The Storm's top-five runners (Catie Ellingson, Jess Christensen, Sarah Hammel, Tricia Davis and Signe Mayland) all improved their performances from last year's meet, a welcome sign for head coach Brad Hofer.

"I though our girls ran a really smart, hard race on a challenging course against a lot of quality teams," Hofer said. "The girls ran really well and most ran as well as they have on a tough course against some of the top regional competition in the nation."

Simpson's top runner, junior Catie Ellingson earned all-region honors with an 11th place finish (22:27.0). The all-region finish was the second of Ellingson's career, as she placed 16th at the regional meet as a freshman in 2006. She also shaved more than one-minute off her time in last year's meet on the same course, as she ran a 23:50.7 in 2008 while placing 41st.

Ellingson will find out Sunday if she is one of the 56 individual qualifiers who will compete at the 2009 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, held Nov. 21 at Highland Hills Golf Course in Cleveland. Baldwin-Wallace College will serve as the host.

Following Ellingson was Jess Christensen, who also improved her showing from last year's meet. The senior placed 52nd (23:35.9) after coming in 81st in 2008 (24:46.4). Fellow senior Sarah Hammel came in 64th (23:54.1), making the jump from her 97th place showing in 2008 (25:12.1).

Senior Tricia Davis moved up four places from last season to take 96th (24:28.2) and Signe Mayland improved upon her 124th place showing last season, taking 118th (25:03.8). Freshman Jade Osborne took 131st (25:26.0) and sophomore Erin Guzman finished 137th (25:33.9) to round out Simpson's scoring.