Results (PDF)

JOPLIN, Mo. - The Roberts Wesleyan women's cross country team traveled 1100 miles southwest, but when they got there, it felt like home.  Thirty-six degrees, blustery winds and falling snow greeted the runners as they exited their hotels on their way to the course Saturday morning.  Unpleasant weather conditions, rolling hills, hairpin turns and winding paths—it was business as usual for the elite cross country runners competing in the NCAA DII National Cross Country Championships. 
 
Knowing a series of hairpin turns would make moving up in the field difficult, runners of all abilities sprinted at the sound of the gun and charged over the first mile of the course.  Five runners crossed the mile mark in under 5:20, stringing out the field very early in the race.  Elizabeth Valento led the way for the Redhawks.  Her first mile was 5:39, which is by far her quickest start of the year.  She pushed through fatigue and discomfort and repeated her top-100 finish from last year.  The junior finished 83^rd in a time of 22:04 and will be a tremendous asset to the program next year as a senior and a two-time top-100 finisher at DII nationals.
 
April Sablan, who has been the squad's second runner most of the season, made an incredible push through the field.  At the back after the first 400m, she weaved through traffic—accelerating off of each turn and up each hill.  She passed more than 30 competitors from 400m to 1600m and then another 40 more from 1600m to the finish.  Sablan placed 126^th and recorded a 6k time of 22:30.  She, too, has much to offer the team next year and will be one of three seniors with two national championship experiences.
 
Brittany Ward, Emily Betts, and Rachel Hutchinson served as the team's additional three scorers.  Similar to Sablan, these three improved on their early positions.  Unfortunately, crowded turns made it extremely difficult to move up considerably.
 
Betts was a dependable team contributor all year.  She never finished outside the top five and has chipped 50 seconds off of her 5k time since last year.  This was the sophomore's first opportunity to race in the national championships.
 
Hutchinson has experienced considerable improvement over the last four weeks.  At the conference meet, fatigue associated with an illness forced her out of the race before the first mile.  She returned to compete in the region championships and was the team's sixth runner.  And on Saturday in Missouri, she once again cracked the top five, though she was unable able to return to her early-season form. 
 
Ward closed out her successful cross country career with a 16-place improvement over last year.  A walk-on, who was too shy to say no to a persistent coach who saw potential in her, has seen a two and a half minute improvement in her 5k time and is now a two-time participant in the NCAA DII National Championships.
 
The Roberts Wesleyan women's team finished 30^th at this year's national championships.  There are 304 women's cross country programs sponsored by NCAA Division II institutions.  Thirty-two of these teams qualify for the national championships.
 
All in all, it was a successful year for the Roberts Wesleyan men's and women's cross country teams.  They earned a pair of conference titles.  The men finished second in the NCCAA National Cross Country Championships.  The women finished second in the East Region Championships and competed in the NCAA DII National Cross Country Championships.