Track North's Tallman and Villanova Wildcats Crowned NCAA Champions
Terre Haute, Indiana, Monday, November 23rd, 2009Sudbury Track North Athletics Club's Kaitlyn Tallman, a senior at Villanova University, captured the team gold medal today at the NCAA Division I Women's Cross-Country Running Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.Tallman, from Mindemoya, along with her teammates scored 86 points (low score wins), beating 2nd place Florida State by a 47 point margin. The University of Washington, who were ranked 1st all year, finished 3rd, 100 points behind Villanova.Tallman commented shortly after her race, "It's an unbelievable feeling. It's still sinking in. We are all so excited and we can't stop crying because we worked so hard all year to put ourselves in a position to win and we did it. Personally, I didn't have my best race but at the end of the day its a team sport and I'm so proud of the girls on this team."Tallman finished 84th in a field of 255 of the highest caliber runners in the NCAA.Tallman's Track North coach, Darren Jermyn, commented: "What an amazing day for Kaitlyn and the entire Track North community. We cannot be any happier for her and her teammates at this moment. She has gone through so much over the past several years, from being an OFSAA gold medallist to really struggling to stay injury free and running to her full potential. The coaching staff at Villanova have done an outstanding job developing Kaitlyn into a national level runner and we are excited to see what she does next. Seeing her holding the championship trophy on national television after the race will be with me for years to come."
