VANCOUVER, Wash. - The HU women’s cross country team wrapped up its spectacular season over the weekend by bringing home a 20th place finish at the 33rd annual NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.
It marked the fourth time since 1999 the Forester women have competed on the national stage as a team. The last time the HU harriers ran at the NAIA National Championships was in the fall of 2002 when they finished 23rd.
Huntington recorded 510 team points and had two runners place among the top 100 with Gretchen Spahr leading the way. The sophomore posted a 5K time of 19:09 to finish 47th. She was followed by Cendall Ogle in 84th with a time of 19:40.
Krista Wood ran a 20:08 to finish 122nd while Natalie Spahr was three seconds behind her with a 20:11 for 125th place. Hannah Moore posted a time of 20:18 for 132nd to round out HU’s scoring. Other Forester runners included Erin Rockey (148th, 20:27) and Miranda Boyts (172nd, 21:02).
As the conference champions, Huntington represented the Crossroads League as one of the 32-team field that featured 22 conference/independent champions, seven at-large selections, two conference/independent runner-ups and one host bid.
It was the fourth-consecutive year that the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championships were held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. It was hosted by the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Concordia University-Portland (Ore.).