With winds whipping across the manicured grass fields at Pole Green Park in Richmond, Virginia the Women's NJCAA Cross Country National Championship race got underway at 12:00pm to the sound of the starter's gun. The Trojan ladies entered the race ranked 7th in the country, with hopes to improve upon that in the final and ultimate race of the season.
Very quickly four runners separated from the main pack of runners with TSC's Sharon Jesang amongst that small pack. Trojans Ashley Lagat, Holly Tsosie and Vanessa Dominguez weren't far behind Jesang, running together in the early parts of the race. As the runners moved into the final stages of the two loop course Jesang held steady in 4th place.
Jesang would go on to finish 4th place overall, the highest finish by any TSC cross country athlete to date. Her time of 18:21 is also the fastest by any Trojan. Holly Tsosie competed mightily over the second half of the race to finish 23rd in a time of 19:15. Freshmen Vanessa Dominguez battled all the way to the finish to earn 29th place. In 39th place was Ashley Lagat. Kianna Quintana moved up throughout the entire race to 64th in 20:30, a personal best time. Kaleia Vicenti finished just behind Quintana in 69th place. Tamsin Stewart rounded out the Trojan contingent in 84th place with a time of 21:17. After the scores were compiled the Trojans finished in 7th as a team, with 3rd through 7th place separated by only 18 points.
Jesang's performance earned a lot of praise from Coach Lauren Masterson who said, "Sharon really asserted herself today. She had the mindset we needed and was ready to give a great effort for her team." This marks Jesang's 6th All-American award to date. "Sharon continues to get better with each season. I'm proud of what she's done this cross country season. She capped it off extremely well at the biggest meet of the year." Masterson continued, "Though we had our sights set a bit higher, the race was incredibly tight. Only a few points separated some great teams. We had some strong efforts on a challenging and competitive day." The women's team championship went to the College of Southern Idaho.
The Trinidad State ladies will race again Tuesday in the Half Marathon National Championships where they are the defending National Champions.