Tori Herman and Perri Bockrath of the University of Kentucky women’s cross country team have earned All-Region honors for their performances in last Friday’s NCAA Southeast Regional meet, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced.
The duo receive the kudo for placing in the top 25 individual runners at the NCAA Regional, held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville. Herman finished in fourth place by covering the 6,000-meter course in 20:10.9 while Bockrath traveled the territory in 20:17.3 to place ninth out of the 232 regional competitors. It is the second year for each runner to be named All-Region. They had almost identical showings at the 2021 regional event, as Herman was third and Bockrath ninth to garner the All-Region accolade.
In addition to the region award, Herman and Bockrath qualified for Saturday’s NCAA Championship meet in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the second season in a row that both runners will be in the national competition.
“Having two individuals qualify for the nationals, especially knowing that there are only four individuals that make it out of the regional that are not on (advancing) teams – to have half that group – is a testament to how strong both of them are,” assistant track coach Hakon DeVries, who guides UK’s cross country and distance runners, said after last Friday’s meet. “They have been two of the best runners in the nation all season and I’m so happy for them to have the opportunity to showcase it at the NCAAs, chasing the dream that started during the summer.”
“Obviously, we had the intention of qualifying and we just went in there to do our best,” said Herman, a junior from Hilton Head, South Carolina. “At the end of it we came in here to do our job and work together and that’s what we did.”
“It was muddy and sloppy (on the course) but we put our spikes on and worked through it together,” said Bockrath, a graduate student from Centerville, Ohio. “Seeing Tori up there helped me race because I need to keep my eye on her and if she’s racing well then I’m probably racing well. We work well off each other and seeing the finish line at the end, and knowing we both had an automatic spot, makes it so much better to cross the finish line.”
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