Monday, March 15
Stillwater, Okla.
TBD
University of Massachusetts Lowell
vs
NCAA Cross Country Championships
Richards Runs to Second All-American Title in Three Days
3/15/2021 4:10:00 PM | Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
STILLWATER, Okla. – UMass Lowell graduate student Kaley Richards (Lowell, Mass.) turned in a stellar performance at the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Monday to earn her second All-American nod in three days.
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"To finish off the weekend as a double All-American was an amazing accomplishment," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "This definitely makes the last year of work and getting through all this worth it. This sealed up probably the best weekend in school history. I can't imagine anything better than this."
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Richards completed the 6k national championship race in a time of 20:46.9 to finish 30th in the field of over 200 of the best runners in the country.
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With the performance, she becomes the program's first female Division I Cross Country All-American. This honor comes just days after she earned the program's first Indoor Track & Field All-American honors at the Division I level on Saturday.
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"To be honest with you, we weren't sure what she was going to have left coming off of an outstanding performance in Arkansas," explained Gardner. "It's not something she's ever done as an athlete at this level, so I just told her to put herself in the top 40 to start with and just grind, and she did great."
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Richards got off to a great start, settling into 37th at the 1k mark. At 5k, she was exactly 40th, but she turned up the pace, and with a strong close that has become her signature, she was able to pass 10 other competitors down the stretch.
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"Getting out into position and being able to put herself where she belonged was really huge," commented Gardner. "Once she was there, she's too tough to give up a lot of spots and she really hung in that top-40 position all the way through. Obviously she has good speed and she's a good runner, but she's so tough. She had three really hard races in a four-day period against the best runners in the country. No one is going to have anything left after that."
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"To finish off the weekend as a double All-American was an amazing accomplishment," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "This definitely makes the last year of work and getting through all this worth it. This sealed up probably the best weekend in school history. I can't imagine anything better than this."
Â
Richards completed the 6k national championship race in a time of 20:46.9 to finish 30th in the field of over 200 of the best runners in the country.
Â
With the performance, she becomes the program's first female Division I Cross Country All-American. This honor comes just days after she earned the program's first Indoor Track & Field All-American honors at the Division I level on Saturday.
Â
"To be honest with you, we weren't sure what she was going to have left coming off of an outstanding performance in Arkansas," explained Gardner. "It's not something she's ever done as an athlete at this level, so I just told her to put herself in the top 40 to start with and just grind, and she did great."
Â
Richards got off to a great start, settling into 37th at the 1k mark. At 5k, she was exactly 40th, but she turned up the pace, and with a strong close that has become her signature, she was able to pass 10 other competitors down the stretch.
Â
"Getting out into position and being able to put herself where she belonged was really huge," commented Gardner. "Once she was there, she's too tough to give up a lot of spots and she really hung in that top-40 position all the way through. Obviously she has good speed and she's a good runner, but she's so tough. She had three really hard races in a four-day period against the best runners in the country. No one is going to have anything left after that."
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Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country/Track & FieldTuesday, July 21
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Monday, May 11
Wednesday, March 25
