Wingate University junior Keeley Wood punched her ticket for the NCAA Division II national cross country meet Saturday, as the 2012 South Atlantic Conference individual champion finished second in the Southeast Region at McAlpine Creek Greenway Park. Wood helped the Wingate women place eighth (out of 27 schools) on the team charts.
In the women’s 6K race, Wood posted a time of 22:54.3. Montevallo (Ala.) senior Kaley Glover was the individual champion with her 22:40.4 clocking. Queens (N.C.) junior Mathilde Timboni claimed the third individual berth to nationals with her fifth-place showing (23:03.4).
In two weeks, Wood will venture to the NCAA Division II national meet in Joplin, Mo. The Nov. 17 event will be held on the Missouri Southern State University cross country course. Wood is the second Wingate individual to advance to the national meet. Natalie Creech Topper (‘06) won the 2003 regional race in Cary, N.C., as she was the first Bulldog runner (male or female) to advance to the national championship meet. The Bulldogs finished second in the 2004 regional race at Wingate, earning the program’s first-ever team berth to nationals.
Wood is a three-time All-SAC first team member and two-time All-Region runner. She was sixth at the 2010 SAC meet and third at the 2011 SAC event. During her three-year career, Wood has won three of the six cross country races held on her campus. In 2011, Wood won both Wingate 5K events: the Bulldog Stampede (19:32) and the Pre-SAC Invitational (19:34).
