Newbury Park’s Sutton Places 6th in National Cross-Country Final

Melissa Sutton, a junior from Newbury Park High, finished sixth in an elite 32-girl field Saturday in the seventh annual Kinney National Cross-Country Championship.

Sutton, who finished 25th in last year’s race, was timed in 17:20.4 for the 5,000 meters. It was her best time ever at that distance and was more than eight seconds faster than her regional qualifying time.

The winner of the race at Morley Field was Erin Keough of McLean, Va. She was clocked in 16:43.79, just six-tenths of a second off the course record.

Sutton defeated Laura Chapman of San Jose, who had beaten her in the Western Regional last week. Sutton moved into the No. 6 spot by passing five runners the final 50 meters.

The race was limited to eight qualifiers from each of four regional races held last Saturday.