CCU’s Bothma wins Southeast Regional, reaches NCAA championship
Spending most of the season running 5k races, Coastal Carolina runner Annie Bothma was presented with a 6k course in the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Va.
The only way the course could have been better for the redshirt freshman from South Africa is if the race had been even longer.
“I was really happy that this time it was a 6k and not a 5k,” said Bothma, who advanced to next week’s NCAA Championship meet after winning the race in 20:15.4. “The longer distance actually suits me better.”
I just ran my heart out. That’s all. I just run as hard as possible as I can at that moment. I just try to stay calm, breathe and just do what I can at every part of the race. If you look at the splits of this race it’s not very consistent because of all of the hills and the ups and downs. I just try to run in the moment, just try to do what I can. If I’m at the hill, I’m focusing on keeping my strides shorter, going up strong on the hill. If I’m going down hill I’m speeding up, I’m making up time. This is the type of course where you just have to run it as it comes. It’s not a flat course so you can’t just run it by the clock. You have to run it how it feels.
Coastal Carolina cross country runner Annie Bothma
Bothma finished second on the same course in the 5k Panorama Farms Invitational earlier this season.
“Last time I did go out too slow. This time I made my move earlier so I made sure I was first up the hill,” Bothma said. “Hills are not my strongest point, but I’m working on it. I knew that if I was first up the hill there was no way the girls were going to catch me.”
Indeed she was and the race was hers after that.
“She got off to a little bit of a slow start initially, but then as they went around the turn and came back to us and we saw them at the mile she had already kind of gotten ahead by a few meters and she was looking good,” Chanticleers coach Jeff Jacobs said. “From that point she just took control of the race. Every time I saw her after that she had increased her lead and just ran a great race, was really aggressive and kept pushing at every point and was never really challenged. It was amazing.”
The goal all along was to try to finish in the top 4. We knew that was a guarantee of advancing. She felt good all week. Workouts were good going into the race.
Coastal Carolina cross country coach Jeff Jacobs
Coastal’s Kyla van Graan (20:51.6) and Aynslee van Graan (20:54.8) finished 14th and 17th, respectively, earning all-region honors and helping the Chants to their best finish in 10 years at 13th.
“Going 1, 13 and 17 for our top three runners was our best finish by far for our top three at that meet in program history,” Jacobs said. “We really did well up front.”
Former CCU runner Letitia Saayman won the Southeast Region a year ago, giving the Chants back-to-back first-place finishes and once again an individual in the NCAA race.
“We did it again. The girls ran great and another region champion,” Jacobs said. “Two in two years is pretty amazing.”
In a little over a week, Bothma, a transfer from Boise State, will conclude her freshman season running against the best the country has to offer in Saturday’s event in Terre Haute, Ind.
“This is really like a big thing for me,” Bothma said. “This is my first time going so I’m really excited and I know I’ll be competing against the best girls in the country. I’m really excited.”
She’s incredibly fit, a really hard worker. She’s just an amazing talent. It’s very exciting.
Coastal Carolina cross country coach Jeff Jacobs
Jacobs believes his runner could make school history in the race. Saayman finished 18th there last year and Julia Viellehner had a program-best 11th place finish in the national meet in 2006.
“I’d like to think the top 10 is even possible,” Jacobs said. “She’s on track for a pretty good performance there.”
David Wetzel: 843-626-0295, @MYBSports
This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 9:07 PM with the headline "CCU’s Bothma wins Southeast Regional, reaches NCAA championship."