SAINT LEO, Fla. - Westminster women's cross country runner Saydi Anderson became the first runner in program history to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships as she finished with a 6k time of 21:38.9 to place 51st overall out of a field of over 250 on Saturday morning at The Abbey Course. 

Saturday marked Anderson's second race this season in which she clocked a sub-22-minute 6k time as she was one of just 80 runners to reach that mark at the NCAA Championships. The junior from Rupert, Idaho, qualified for Saturday's national meet with a program record 21:13.50 6k two weeks back at the NCAA South Central Region and had previously placed 14th at the RMAC Championships at 22:43.5.

Anderson sat in 82nd place after the first half-kilometer of the race with a 1:53.1 split to begin the race.  She then climbed 32 spots and sat at 50th overall, clocking in at 4:22.3 at the 1.3k mark. 

Anderson continued to surge in the first half of the women's 6k and reached as high as 39th overall after recording a 10:29.6 time at the halfway point.  She went on to record a 4:52.5 split of the next 1.3k and sat in 48th heading into the final leg of the race.  Anderson finished her day with a 3:40.4 final split to make program history with a 51st-place finish in the first-ever NCAA appearance for Westminster women's cross country. 

Westminster's men's and women's distance runners now turn their attention to indoor track and field season which begin with the BYU Invite on Dec. 9-10.

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