Tampa, Fla.- The UAH women' s cross country team qualified for the NCAA National Championships on Saturday morning, while Vicky Winslow took home top individual honors and Blaise Binns and Jose Ortega qualified individually for the men.
 
Vicky Winslow ran arguably the best individual women's race in program history. The junior won the individual title by dominating the field and winning by over 40 seconds. Winslow led from start to finish and will lead her team in the NCAA Nationals in Spokane, Washington, as Winslow became the first women's runner to win top individual honors at the South Regional.

Also setting a new school-record in the 6k, Winslow earned All-Region honors.

The men's team finished fourth, a spot out of qualification, but Blaise Binns and Jose Ortega punched their tickets individually to Nationals.

Kasey Spence had a solid day as she placed seventh with a time of 23:00.90, while Kailey Williams rounded out the top 10, clocking in at 23:09.30. Both Spence and Williams earned All-Region.
 
Junior Michelle Kruse crossed the line with a time of 23:41.90 to finish 16th. Kayla Luechtefeld came in 19th on the day with a time of 23:55.50 as Amber Powell finished with a solid time of 25:09.20 to come in 35th. Kruse and Luechtefeld both garnered All-Region honors.

Junior Kelsey Crawford finished the day with a time of 25:51.30 to place in the top 50. 


"Vicky led from start to finish and absolutely dominated the field," said David Cain. "Kailey Williams was huge for us after a tough outing at the GSC Championships, bouncing back to place top ten in a very competitive regional."

The men's team finished just outside of the final qualifying spot, ending the day with 100 points while Florida Southern (1st:65), P.R.-Rio Piedras ( 2nd: 71) and Saint Leo (3rd: 73) each captured the three qualifying positions to advance to Nationals as a team.
 
While unable to advance to Nationals, the men saw two Chargers advance to the Nationals individually on Saturday.
 
Binns led UAH with a fourth-place finish with a time of 32:54.90 to qualify for the second straight season. Ortega also qualified for the second consecutive season as the junior placed seventh with a time of 33:01.30 to advance to Nationals.
 
Several other runners for the men's team also had a solid day at the track. Joey Bemowski continued his consistency with a top-15 finish as the senior clocked in with a time of 33:46.20 as fellow teammate Kenny Richardson came away with a time of 34:41.10 to finish in the top 35.
 
Alex Gilliland (42nd, 35:21.10), Taylor Buzzard (50th, 36:02.40), Matt Ursprung (53rd, 36:14.10) all had solid times at the end of the day.

"I am really proud of our team as everyone gave all they had today," said Cain. "Today has been bittersweet, as I am very excited for our women's team advancing to Nationals, and disapointed that the men's hard effort didn't produce the same results."
 
The women will be making their fifth trip to the NCAA Nationals as a team. 
 
The women's team along with Binns and Ortega will continue their season at the NCAA Championships in Spokane, Wa. on Nov. 23.