ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Manon Gammon-Deering is making the most of her final collegiate cross country season.
Gammon-Deering, a senior on the College of Saint Benedict cross country team, has two top-five finishes to her name so far in 2014, including a fifth-place finish – and an all-time personal best – this past weekend.
For her performance Saturday, Gammon-Deering has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week for Sept. 15-21.
Gammon-Deering, a Little Falls, Minn., native, led the Blazer cross country team with a fifth-place finish at the Luther All-American Invite Saturday in Decorah, Iowa. She took fifth out of 124 runners, and was one of 10 Blazer runners in the top 20. Her finish helped CSB win the seven-team invite.
Not only did Gammon-Deering finish fifth overall, she did so in record fashion. Her time of 18:44.8 was an all-time personal best, and came on a course that head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue described as incredibly tough. Gammon-Deering’s competition was also tough; the individual medalist, Luther’s Tricia Serres, is an NCAA Division III cross country All-American.
Saturday’s finish marked the second top-five finish of the season for Gammon-Deering. She won the Blazers’ first race of the year, a dual meet with St. Kate’s, in 15:12.15.
Gammon-Deering earned All-MIAC honors as a junior after finishing eighth at the conference meet and went on to finish 29
th at the Central Region meet.
Gammon-Deering and the Blazers are back in action Saturday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the Colorado College Invite. The race includes NCAA Division II and III teams, as well as NAIA teams.
