Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

GREENCASTLE, Ind. – Westfield State’s Kerry Arouca placed second in the 5,000 meter run at the NCAA Division III women’s indoor track and field national championships on Saturday, March 13, at DePauw University.

Arouca earned her third All-America honor with her highest finish ever at the national championships, a time of 17:02.22 in the 5,000 meter run. She finished second to St. Lawrence (N.Y.) College junior Wendy Pavlus, who posted a winning time of 16:59.40. Pavlus also won the NCAA cross country national championship last fall, easily outdistancing the runner-up by 17 seconds.

“I thought Kerry had a good chance to win but she was boxed in numerous times on the inside,” said Westfield State head coach Sean O’Brien.

Arouca finished ninth in the 5,000 meter run at last year’s national championships. She was roughly in ninth place this season with several laps to go and finished strong to place second. Finishing third was Carleton (Minn.) College sophomore Simone Childs-Walker in 17:03.81.

Arouca earned All-America honors with a 19th place finish at the 2009 cross country national finals and she placed third in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at last year’s NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships.