Girard qualifies for NCAA Championships at South Central Regional

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Battling a slew of athletes from many of top athletic programs in the southwest, senior Allyson Girard managed to secure one of the four automatic qualifying individual bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, locking down a sixth-place overall finish at the South Central Regional meet early Friday morning. The Arizona native crossed the finish line a mere 21.2 seconds off the leader, clinching the second available individual berth out of the South Central region to the NCAA Championships, set for Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisc.

As a rule, the NCAA grants automatic bids to all members of the top two teams plus the four best individual finishes not associated with either the first or second place squads. Due to the region's top four individual runners all hailing from the meet's first-place program -- nationally-ranked No. 5 Arkansas -- SMU's Hannah Miller earned the first automatic individual bid with her fifth place and Girard captured the second at sixth.

Meanwhile, sophomore Valentina Campos and senior Cynthia Quiroga put in strong efforts as they cruised to 36th- and 57th-place finishes, respectively. Junior Morgan McCutchen, who impressed with a season-best performance at the Southland Conference Championships a fortnight ago, notched another solid competition as she slid in at 75th. After losing senior Samantha Miller to injury following the Southland Conference Championships, freshman Alana Blankenship stepped up into the squad's final scoring position at 116th while fellow freshman Marisssa Martinez wrapped up the Islanders' performance at 126th.

Overall, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi slid in at 10th place on the final team leaderboards, trailing a number of the region's top programs including Arkansas (first), Texas (second) and Texas State (third). Amongst Southland competition, the Islanders ranked top of the conference, outpacing Stephen F. Austin (13th), McNeese State (15th), Lamar (17th), Incarnate Word (19th), Sam Houston State (21st) and Nicholls State (22nd).

On the men's side, sophomore Isaac Vargas led the way at 47th while senior Marek Spriestersbach followed not far behind at 75th. Senior Steven Galli and junior Oscar Leyva finished near each other, placing 93rd and 97th, respectively. The trio of freshmen -- Juan Salinas III, Matthew Lara and Andrew Gandy -- all garnered notable experience as well, placing 113th, 125th and 142nd, respectively.

Both nationally-ranked No. 19 Arkansas and Texas notched automatic qualifying bids as they secured first and second while Texas A&M, Rice and North Texas rounded out the top five. The Islanders closed the meet with a 16th-place finish on the team leaderboard, trailing five fellow Southland members including Incarnate Word (seventh), Lamar (ninth), Central Arkansas (10th), Stephen F. Austin (11th) and McNeese State (12th).

Save for Girard and her upcoming trip to Wisconsin for the NCAA Championships, the A&M-Corpus Christi Cross Country program concluded its season at the South Central Regional meet. Next up for a majority of the participating athletes: Indoor Track & Field.

For more information on Islanders Cross Country, follow the team on Twitter (@IslandersTFXC), Instagram (@IslandersTFXC) and like their Facebook page (Islanders Track & Field/Cross Country).