Saayman poised for NCAA regionals

Senior Letitia Saayman has had a distinguished collegiate cross country career at Coastal Carolina, but the two-time Big South champion is not satisfied yet.

The Chanticleers compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday afternoon at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va., and Saayman is looking to return to the NCAA nationals one more time.

She placed 12th at the Southeast Regional meet last year to make it through to the championship meet and now heads into her final regional running the best she has in her time with the Chants.

“Right now Letitia is running better than she ever has, and she has as good a chance as any individual in the region to advance,” Chants coach Jeff Jacobs said. “I’m just really excited to see her get back to nationals.”

The top four individual finishers who are not on qualifying teams advance from a field comprised of 39 teams and about 250 runners.

Last year both Saayman and teammate Kyla van Graan made it through to the NCAA nationals, and Jacobs is hoping van Graan, a junior, can rise to the occasion again.

Saayman, meanwhile, has been dialed in all season on her goals and set a record at the Big South championships in her last meet with a 5K time of 16 minutes, 49 seconds.

“One thing she gained from that [NCAA championships] experience wasn’t just being satisfied with making it there; she wants to make it there and be an All-American,” Jacobs said. “She’s really set up a pattern of success this year that there’s a good chance of that happening. She still has to have two really good races, but the good news is since the conference meet she’s healthy. ...

“I actually had her train on Monday with the guys because she’s been running so well to kind of pace her a little bit.”

With Saayman, van Graan and her sophomore sister Aynslee van Graan – all natives of South Africa – the Chants have a strong top three and are looking to raise the bar for the program.

“For the team also, we have a chance to have one of our highest finishes in 10 or 12 years. We haven’t been in the top 10 since 2006,” Jacobs said. “... I think we have a great chance to finish in that top 10 and that would be an awesome way for the women’s team to finish the season.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Saayman poised for NCAA regionals."