COMPLETE RESULTS

The High Point University women's cross county team placed 18th in the NCAA Southeast Regional to close out the 2011 season on Saturday in Louisville, Ky. The team was led by sophomore Kayleigh Perry for the fifth time in six races. She placed 68th.

"We moved up one spot so it was a step forward, we were more competitive than last year," said HPU head coach Mike Esposito. "Our girls collectively ran much faster than last year but the competition did as well. Kayleigh had another strong race. Audrey Malloy went out aggressively and paid the price a little bit. I'd rather have her do that than hanging back. Leah Anne Wirfel moved through the race nicely after having injuries this year."

Perry placed 68th in a time of 21:54.6 for the 6K course, a career-best by 30 seconds for that distance. Close behind was sophomore Audrey Malloy, who placed 76th in 21:59.7.

Junior Kelsey Hunt was the third finisher for High Point, placing 103rd in 22:25.0. Junior Kelsey Paine placed 133rd in 22:50.2 and freshman Leah Anne Wirfel placed 136th in 22:55.1

Senior Kelsey Fraser finished out her cross country career with a 143rd place finish in a time of 23:00.1. Freshman Sarah Dorrell was the Panthers' seventh finisher with a 203rd-place finish in a time of 24:05.2.

High Point improved one spot from its 19th-place finish at last year's regional championship. Virginia won the meet with NC State and North Carolina close behind. North Carolina's Kendra Schaaf won the race. HPU was the top Big South finisher in 18th, beating out Liberty (22nd) and Coastal Carolina (25th).

"We didn't have the close spread we had at the conference championship and that made the difference this week. We return the bulk of our team so this is something to build off for the future," said Esposito.

The meet closed out the Panthers' best women's cross country season ever, as High Point won its first Big South Championship on Oct. 30 with five finishers in the meet's top 10.  Perry, Malloy, Hunt, Paine and Fraser all earned All-Conference honors and Fraser was named Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Fraser was the only senior running in HPU's top seven this season.