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Daily Herald Article
WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Harper College women's cross country team came into the 2015 NJCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championship ranked No. 2 in the nation. On Saturday, the Hawks lived up to their billing, placing second in the nation for a second straight year.
Harper finished second with 87 points as a team, behind only national champion Suffolk Community College (64 points). Ocean County College finished a distant third place with 131 points.
Hawks top runner Ali Gutt (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) capped off an outstanding freshman campaign, finishing the 5K course at Stanley Park in 19:00.2 to take second place overall and first among runners in the team competition. Northhampton Community College's Meseret Hart won the race in 18:43.3.
Leslie Rosiles (Mount Prospect, Ill./Rolling Meadows) ran an excellent race as well, earning All-American recognition with a 12th place finish in 20:11.4. Silvia Catalan (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) saved her best race of the year for last as she crossed the finish line in 20:22.4 for 16th place. Dianne Barajas (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg) placed inside the top-25 with a 24th place showing in 20:48.1.
"Dianne ran a nice race. This is only her second year of cross country," said Harper head coach Jim Macnider. "She's still learning the sport, and I thought she did a great job."
Katie Thevara (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) was Harper's final runner to score points as she finished 51st overall in 21:45.4. Veronica Brooks (Arlington Heights, Ill./Battle (Mo.)) completed the course in 22:54.3 for 72nd place. Finally, sophomore Cynthia Siddiqui (/Palatine) captured 89th place overall in 23:42.6.
"They all ran really well," Macnider said. "I thought Ali ran a good, solid race. Leslie ran a really nice race. Silvia really ran well. That was probably her best race of the year."
