USF's Benton Earns Cross Country All-America Honors

Tampa – University of South Florida cross country standout Christa Benton capped off an outstanding season by earning NCAA Division I All-America honors. Benton is the first runner from the USF cross country program to earn All-America honors.

“We are just extremely excited for Christa,” said USF head cross country coach Greg Thiel. “This is tremendous accomplishment and shows people where she really stands nationally. It is also a great feather in the cap for our program and certainly a well deserved honor for Christa.”

Benton, a sophomore, finishes a spectacular cross country season in which she dominated her competition for most of the year. During the season, Benton recorded three first place finishes (Bulldog Stampede, Florida Intercollegiate/Gator invitational, and Auburn Invitational) and three third place finishes (Indiana Open, Conference USA Championships, and the NCAA South Regional) out of the eight meets that she took part in. She recently finished 40th at the NCAA Championships, held November 25 in Terre Haute, IN. It was the highest finish by a female USF participant at the championships. She also ran the 6,000-meter course in a time of 20:35.6 – a personal best for her at that distance.

Although Benton finished 40th at the national championships she finished 25th among the top 30 Americans, thus granting her All-America status.