WINNECONNE, Wisc. -- Christopher Newport University senior Jade Zaharoff finished with a personal record at the 2011 NCAA National Championships today, wrapping her career with a 211th place finish. Zaharoff finished the 6,000-meter race in 23:11 for her PR.
The women's race was at Noon followed by the men's race at 1:00 pm. A total of 560 runners from 134 different schools participated in this morning's national championship races, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
"Jade ran a really good race," said head coach Matthew Barreau. "It is incredibly difficult to control your emotions in a race like this if you have never been in this environment before. In fact, it was such a new experience for her that she wasn't even sure what to feel about her race afterward. So for her to be able to run a personal best in the last cross country race of her career is truly exciting."
The CNU senior finished the first mile in 5:51 in 187th place; her splits for the 2nd and 3rd miles were 12:11 (6:20) in 213th and 18:40 (6:29) in 213th respectively.
Zaharoff was a First Team All-Conference performer with a 2nd place effort at the USA South Championship, helping lead CNU to a league title. She also finished 18th at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championship to qualify for nationals.