Twin sisters Lucy and Holly van Dalen led Stony Brook University to a program-best seventh-place finish in the NCAA women's cross country national championships at Indiana State University in Terre Haute Monday.
The New Zealand-born van Dalens, who are seniors, earned All-American status as Lucy finished sixth in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 20 minutes, 19.2 seconds and Holly was seventh at 20:19.3. Sheila Reid of team champion Villanova led the field of 253 in 20:06.9.
"We felt like there were 10 to 12 girls who could win it,'' Seawolves coach Andy Ronan said in a statement. "To have two runners from one team in the top 10 is fantastic. As for the team aspect, the girls just kept plugging away. Ten years ago, we were 20th in the region, and today we're seventh in the nation. I'm overjoyed.''
More than 5,000 fans attended the championships.
"The amount of support out there was just crazy,'' Lucy said. "There's not one part of the course that wasn't packed with supporters. It's a bonus for us to do well today. It's always exciting to do well individually, but when we both do well, it's even more exciting because we can enjoy it together. We feel so excited about this.''
The event took place on a cold and windy afternoon.
"As for the wind, everyone was dealing with it, so you just got to get tough and get through it,'' Holly said.
Also finishing for Stony Brook were Annie Keown (70th), Hayley Green (72), Olivia Burne (219), Kristal Conklin (221) and Carolina Cortes (230).
