Westfield State's Arouca Earns All-America Honors With Runner-Up Finish In 5,000 Meters At NCAA Championships
Westfield States Kerry Arouca placed second to earn All-America honors in the 5,000 meter run at the NCAA Division III Womens Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
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.
