Arena Lewis Captures First All-American Honor

Arena Lewis Captures First All-American Honor

Results

Saturday marked junior Arena Lewis' second trip to nationals and her first time earning All-American honors as she finished in 37th with a time of 23:26.6. While many of today's runners had experience on the course after competing at the Pre-Nationals meet, this was Lewis' first attempt in Schenley Park located in Pittsburgh. 

For the sixth season in a row the Chargers competed in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Nationals. Announcers called this race a "slopfest." Six kilometers of rolling hills were covered in mud and herds of runners pushing through the curves made it challenging to stay upright. 

The Chargers battled hard, as they were ranked 18th and ended in 19th. Regional rival Grand Valley State captured first. 

Sophomore Maryssa Depies was the second Charger to finish. She took 76th out of 264 runners in 24:11.3.

Senior Ally Eads competed in her fourth and final national cross country meet, finishing in 25:01.8 to take 151st. Sophomore Christina Sawyer was next to Eads, earning 159th in 25:09.9. 

Sophomore Lauren Peterson took her first trip to nationals today. She finished in 180th over in 25:30.4.

This was junior Kate Vanderstelt's second time competing among the nation's best and she earned her best placement. In 2016 she finished in 217th. Today she came in 199th, crossing the finish line in 25:43.5. Fellow junior Addison Rauch came in 222nd with a time of 26:11.3. 

PHOTO: Todd Lancaster
WORDS: Calli Townsend