Results
 
LUBBOCK, TX – The No. 5 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs came out strong on Saturday to finish fourth at the NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country South Central Regional Championships in Lubbock. The No. 5 Lady Buffs finished fourth as a team with 118 points, defeating Lone Star Conference foe No. 25 DBU by 113 points.
 
SETTING RECORDS
The Lady Buffs scored their best points in WT history with 118, just one point below their previous lowest record set in 2013. 
 
Eleonora Curtabbi crossed the finish line in second with her personal best time of 20 minutes, 23.1 seconds in the 6,000-meter race. Curtabbi finished second at last year's regionals as well but ran 27 seconds faster this go around. 
 
Three Lady Buffs ran their personal best including Curtabbi, there was freshman Sarah Koomson and junior Elise Leveel. Curtabbi, Koomson and Leveel all earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors for placing in the top-25 runners out of the 169 field. This is the first time since 2014 that three Lady Buffs have earned All-Region honors in the same season. 
 
LSC Freshman of the Year Sarah Koomson was the only freshman to place in the top-10 out of the women's and men's division. Koomson ran her best time of 20 minutes, 49.6 seconds making it the first time in her career to break the 20-minute mark in a 6,000-meter race. 
 
TEAM EFFORT 
Eleonora Curtabbi crossed the finish line ten seconds after first place finisher Brianna Nobles from Adams State to claim her third cross country All-Region accolade.  Freshman Sarah Koomson was the second Lady Buff to cross the finish line in 8^th (20:49.6) followed by Elise Leveel (20^th, 21:15.4), Betty Bajika (33^rd, 21:40.2), Lexi Maul (55^th, 22:19.9) Olivia McLain (57^th, 22:29.67) and Raquel Chavez (58^th, 22:34.6). 
 
A STACKED REGION
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference had the top four teams led by No. 2 Adams State who had the top runner for a total of 44 points.  No. 3 Colorado School of Mines came in second with 76 points followed by No. 4 Western Colorado (111), then No. 5 West Texas A&M (118) and No. 10 UC Colorado Springs (125). ASU, Mines and Western Colorado received the region's automatic bids to the national races. 
 
NCAA DII NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
A total of 34 teams will be selected to the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championships on Nov. 4 in Joplin, Mo. The top three teams from each regional meet will receive automatic bids (24 teams), while an additional ten teams are awarded based on the following criteria: click here for team/individual selection criteria.
 
The NCAA will release the teams and individuals for the national races on Monday, Nov. 6^th at 5 p.m. ET.