UNIVERSITY PARK, WA – The dark overcast sky along Puget Sound brought not rain but smiles for the Colorado Christian women's cross country team.
Batting through mud, snow and chilly temperatures the Cougars put together an historic performance by finishing 10th at the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championship race.
After earning an at-large berth into the championship race, Colorado Christian showed their progression as program with its top 10 national finish.
HOW IT HAPPENED: From the starting gun the ladies put themselves in top 20 position in the 34-team field and continued to work their way up in the standings.
At the first mile the Cougars were in the 14th spot in the 6K (3.7 mile) race. As the next mile ticked away, they moved up to 13th before putting together a finishing effort worthy of their remarkable finish. Methodically the top five runners showed their mental strength as they willed their team towards the finish chute.
Paige Tack battled hard as the team's first scoring runner with 51 team points by crossing the finish line in 21:35.8. Just behind her was newcomer
Zanzie Demco (21:45.3) with 59 points. Demco chased down 13 points in the last kilometer, moving from 72nd to 59th.
Shannon King produced 71 team points as she moved from 85th to her final scoring position. The junior finished in 21:56. Squad veteran
Elizabeth Mattson scored 80 points with a finish in 21:59 as the team's fourth scorer.
Michelle Kuipers was the final scoring participant as she also placed in the top-100 scoring runners with 91 team points with a time of 22:08.5.
Lucy Pidek (22:33.4) and
Callie Ketner (22:44.8) rounded out the competitors for Colorado Christian.
RACE NOTES
It is the second appearance for the program which finished 22nd last season in their first national championship race
Among the top 10 teams, six teams were from the RMAC
Adams State won the event with 75 points outdistancing Grand Valley State (126) and Colorado School of Mines (164)
Adams State's Stephanie Cotter won the individual title in a time of 19:45.2
