For Immidate Release
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Results

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The University of Mary finished second in the team standings at the 2017 NCAA Women's Cross Country Nationals Championships, held Saturday at Angel Mounds.  With four individuals earning All-American honors, the Marauders national runner-up finish is the best NCAA mark for any UMary program.  Augustana finished 14th in the team standings with 389 points while Minnesota Duluth was 15th with 427 points. 

The NSIC had eight runners finish in the top 40, earning All-American honors. 
 
Northern State's Sasha Hovind and Dakotah Bullen raced to All-American finishes as Hovind finished tenth overall, while Bullen came in 34th.  The tenth place finish for Hovind is the top placing of her career from the NCAA Championships, finishing with a time of 21:08.7. The senior earned the ninth All-American honor of her career, and third in cross country as the top NSIC finisher in the race. Bullen nabbed the first All-American honor of her career in cross country working her way into the top-40 in the event with a time of 21:39.4. The senior moved up 22 places from her finish in 2015, after sitting 56th overall. She also landed in the top-10 in the NSIC as the seventh finisher from the league.
 
This is the first time UMary has won an NCAA championship event trophy. The Marauders previous best finish at the NCAA cross country championships was fifth place in 2011.  Ranked fifth nationally entering the meet, the Marauders exceeded their expectations and realized some dreams by posting a team score of 137. UMary finished just behind national champion Adams State as the Grizzlies checked in with 126 team points. Cal Baptist claimed third at 148 points and Chico State placed fourth (179).
 
The Marauders were once again paced by senior Alexis Zeis. The 2015 national champion and the 2016 runner-up placed 13th overall in the country. The Bismarck, ND, native ends her storied cross country career as a four-time cross country All-American after ripping up the 6,000 meter Angel Mounds course in Evansville, IN, in a time of 21:18.9. Jaiden Schuette, the runner-up in the Northern Sun championships, traversed the national championship course in 21:25.2 to place 17th and 16th in the team standings. Running one of the best races of her career, the junior from Bismarck, ND, improved her standing by 58 slots over last season when she placed 75th.  Kate Fox, running in her second straight NCAA championship, snared 29th overall and 25th in the team standings. The sophomore from Wing, ND, powered her way to a time of 21:35.0. Last year’s experience paid off for Fox, who placed 47th in 2016.   Kaycie Stewart closes her Marauders cross country career with an incredible performance. The senior from Corvallis, MT, placed 37th overall with a clocking of 21:41.1. She was 34th in team scoring. After not finishing the race last season due to illness, Stewart finished 35 slots better than her sophomore season in 2015. Zeis, Schuette, Fox and Stewart all earned NCAA All-American honors by finishing among the top 40 runners.
 
Augie's Mackenzie Kelly led the Vikings with a 25th place finish with a time of 21:32.4, earning All-American status for the first time in her career. Kelly becomes the 33rd women's cross country student-athlete in school history to earn All-American honors. In the team standings, it was the Vikings 14th top-15 finish in school history.  Behind Kelly was Leah Seivert (77th), Cassidy Soli (94th), Emily Tromp (120th) and Claire Boersma (147th) to wrap up the women's scoring.

UMD's Meg Borowski close the books on her collegiate cross country career by placing 23rd overall. That finish earned the University of Minnesota Duluth sophomore All-American status as she and the Bulldogs took 15th in the 32-team. UMD, which was making its fifth consecutive national meet appearance, posted a team score of 427 points while Adams State University captured the team title (126 points). Borowski completed the 6,000-meter race at the Angel Mounds course with a time of 21:30.1.