Chants’ Saayman makes history at NCAA regionals

The goal Friday for Coastal Carolina cross country standout Letitia Saayman was to make it through regionals for the second straight season and get another shot at the NCAA championship meet.

The optimism for the Chanticleers was that with as well as the senior has run this fall, she could potentially even be among the top finishers in the crowded regional field.

The reality, meanwhile, was even more special.

Saayman crossed the finish line in the NCAA Southeast Regional at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va., in a 6K time of 20 minutes, 25.1 seconds, ahead of all of the other 234 runners who completed the race to become the first runner in program history to win a regional meet.

“It is just amazing. I’m still in awe,” Saayman said by phone afterward. “I still can’t actually believe that it happened yet. From the beginning of the race, it was a hard course, the wind was blowing really hard, so I kind of didn’t expect it until at the 3K [mark] in the middle of the race. It means a lot, and I think it means a lot for this school too.”

Saayman crossed the finish line a few seconds ahead of Liberty’s Ednah Kurgat (20:28.3) to add this latest accomplishment to a banner season that also included winning her second Big South championship (in a meet record time).

“It was a phenomenal race. Very exciting,” Chants coach Jeff Jacobs said. “So no questions or waiting for an announcement, she will definitely be going to NCAAs next week. It’s the first time in our school’s history we’ve had someone win this race.”

The previous best regional finish for a Coastal Carolina cross country runner was fifth.

There are nine NCAA regionals, and Saayman needed to finish as one of the top four individuals not on a qualifying team Friday to ensure her spot in the NCAA championship meet, which will be run Nov. 21 at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.

Last year she advanced while finishing 12th in the region.

This time, she took all the suspense out of it.

“I really felt like going into the race she could run with anyone out there, but to win the race, we’re talking about some of the best runners in the NCAA,” Jacobs said. “She was going up against a lot of really tough competition, but she put herself up in the top five right off the start.

“There was one runner from Clemson that went out a little faster at the mile, but they caught her about halfway and when they were coming up a big hill in the later stages of the race, they announced that she had taken the lead and I was pretty confident at that point she was in good shape.”

Overall, the Coastal Carolina women placed 17th out of 33 teams.

Junior Kyla van Graan finished 36th individually for the Chants in a time of 21:56, and sophomore sister Aynslee van Graan placed 53rd in 22:21.8 to round out Coastal Carolina’s impressive trio of South African runners.

As for Saayman, she finished in the top half of the field at the NCAA championship meet last year and will be looking to better that performance, riding a wave of momentum into the season’s final competition.

A top-40 finish next week would earn her NCAA All-American status.

“My goal from the beginning of the season was to get that top-40 All-American, so that is literally all I’m focusing on right now,” she said.

Said Jacobs: “We couldn’t be happier for her and it’s such a great achievement. It’s just such a blessing to work with somebody who is so highly motivated as her. And the story isn’t done yet. She could be one of the top runners in the NCAA championship coming up. To win one of these regional championships is a big deal.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Chants’ Saayman makes history at NCAA regionals."