Texas earned a bid to the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish the South Central Regional Championship on Saturday.

“I am very glad that we met our objective of qualifying for the NCAA Championships,” said coach Steve Sisson.
The Longhorns finished second to Arkansas in the 6K race in Waco.

“Arkansas came out and had an amazing day so credit goes to them,” Sisson said.

Texas finished 20 points behind the Razorbacks for second place, ahead of Texas A&M, SMU and Rice.

Two sophomores led Texas, with Sara Sutherland finishing fourth and Marielle Hall finishing seventh.

“I felt like today was a good day for me,” Sutherland said. “I got to run the race with three of my teammates which gives great energy to everyone.”

Megan Siebert, another sophomore, had the third-best time for the Longhorns, with a 13th overall finish.

“I am very happy with Sara’s race,” Sisson said. “She executed a perfect race plan, one that we designed for her. She has become one of the best runners in the country, and we expect great things from her at the national championships. I also thought Marielle and Megan ran solid races.”

Texas had two more runners in the top 25, with seniors Laleh Mojtabaeezamani finishing 22nd and Mia Behm finishing 23rd. Junior Julie Amthor finished 31st, and sophomore Brittany Marches finished 40th.

“We are looking forward to NCAA Championships and an opportunity to improve on last year’s performance and compete with the best in the country,” Sisson said.

The NCAA Championships will take place on Nov. 21 at the Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Printed on Monday, November 14, 2011: Sophomores help team finish second