Natalie Bitetti Earns Runner-Up Finish in 3000 Meters at NCAA Indoor Championships

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Natalie Bitetti earned her second runner-up finish in an NCAA Championship event so far during her senior season, as she came in second in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. 

Bitetti finished in 9:31.74, just under six seconds behind Fiona Smith of St. Benedict, who won in 9:25.97. In November, Bitetti earned a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, also to Smith, who finished over one minute ahead of the field. 

This time, Bitetti kept it closer as she ran out to the lead after the opening gun and held it for the first 1000 meters. Smith made her move just before the midway point and began top open up some distance again, but Bitetti stayed within five seconds of her down the stretch to keep some pressure on. 

However, at one point, Bitetti slipped into third behind Faith Duncan of Wilmington and it appeared that she was at risk of fading, but she dug down and surged back in front of Duncan and return to second at the 2400-meter mark. 

Bitetti finished second after joining the distance medley relay team in finishing third yesterday, just .31 seconds behind the champions from WPI. Riley Capuano, Shriya Velichala and Laura Zimmer joined her on the All-America podium on Friday, and Bitetti made her third visit of the year on Saturday (Capuano was also a cross country All-American in the fall). 

Several of the other CMS distance runners were also in action on Saturday at the Occidental Distance Carvinal and Spring Break Classic. Elle Marsyla ran the second-fastest 5000 time in Division III so far this season with a 17:24.34 to place third in the meet out of 110 runners, while Sara Wexler ran the fifth-fastest time in Division III in 17:44.84 to place ninth.

Revere Schmidt finished second in the steeplechase out of 24 runners in 11:44.55, while Jenna Milbrodt was also in the top ten in seventh place in 12:05.44. Angie Gushue was seventh out of 71 runners in the 1500 meters with a 4:49.89, with Sadie Drucker one place behind in eighth in 4:50.42. 

CMS will be back in action at the Redlands Invitational on Friday.