Jesang earned her berth in the national meet by taking seventh-place among all individuals at the NCAA Southeast Regional last Saturday at Louisville, Ky.'s E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. Her time of 20:31.60 over the 6,000-meter course set a new WKU standard, as it bettered the previous mark held by Bonita Paul by nearly nine seconds.
Jesang's performance over the weekend was the second-best finish ever recorded by a Lady Topper at the regional, trailing only Breeda Dennehy. Dennehy won the 5,000-meter regional meet in 1991 on her way to an all-America finish of 16th place at the NCAA Championships, making her the only WKU woman to earn such honors in cross country.
Along with Dennehy and Jesang, the only other Lady Topper to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championship was Olga Cronin, who did so in 2002.
Jesang has had a stellar sophomore campaign on the Hill. Prior to taking seventh at the regional meet, the Kampala, Uganda native won the Sun Belt Conference cross country title October 27 to lead the Lady Toppers to their second-straight league championship. For her performance at the conference championships, Jesang was named SBC Performer of the Meet.
Earlier this season at the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Jesang finished 37th in the women's 6,000-meter white race, covering the course in 21:01.7.
Indiana State University will play host to this year's NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, November 19, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course loacated at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute. Both championship races will be broadcast live on CSTV. Coverage will begin at Noon (EST), with gun firing for the men's 10,000-meter race at 12:08pm, followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 12:58pm.
