(Grand Rapids, MI) - The Women's Cross Country team completed a year-and-a-half-long mission by becoming the sixth team in school history to qualify for the National Christian College Athletic Association Cross Country National Championships. The women cut five minutes among their top five to beat the 1:50:26 total time by 20 seconds.
As part of running to a qualifying effort, the women ran to 5 personal records and 2 season bests. Michaela Kurth (Sophomore; Ypsilanti, MI) led the team with a new personal best time of 21:32. Kurth improved her time by 18 seconds. Amanda Fogo (Junior; Fowlerville, MI) ran to another personal best time of 21:55 and finished second for the Cardinals. Fogo improved her time by 58 seconds. Macee Ripke (Sophomore; Napoleon, OH) earned a season-best time by 28 seconds and a final time of 22:00. Grace Finley (Sophomore; Monroe, MI) ran another big personal record and continued to show her getting more comfortable with collegiate running. Finley cut 1:35 off her time to earn a new best-of 22:01. Rachael Byers finished the top five for the Cardinals. Byers also earned a personal best time of 22:36, a 46-second improvement. Chloe Gunter (Senior; Monroe, MI) returned from sickness to run the season-best time of 23:51. Gunter improved her time from earlier in the season by 40 seconds. Jenna Oberly (Sophomore; Dearborn, MI) significantly improved by cutting 1:27 to earn a new personal record time of 24:36.
"I am so beyond proud of these women. We talked about taking advantage of the opportunity given to us, and they did just that. I felt that we had the capability to achieve this since last season, and it finally happened for us. They have worked hard, been on a mental and physical grind, and saw it pay off today. We will enjoy today but still have a few more weeks to improve," said Head Coach Dominic Santina.
The team earned a 15 out of 19 team finish at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge hosted by Aquinas at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids.
The women will look to continue the momentum into the WHAC Championships on Friday, November 8, at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids
