Cross country places second at conference meet
The 2011 cross country season contained several high notes for the women of Spring Arbor University (SAU).
The Lady Cougars finished second in Mid-Central College (MCC) Conference after placing second in the MCC Conference meet at the end of November.
At the end of the conference meet, 10 runners received the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) Scholar Athlete Award. Seniors Michaela Crew, Liz Bone, Libby Allen, Sierra Koker, Carissa Hudson, Lauren Prueter and Kaitlin Stevenson were award recipients along with juniors Candice Kent, Molly Smith and Sarah Seewald.
Not only did 10 runners receive the NAIA Scholar Athlete Award, but three runners, Hudson, Danae Dracht and Crew, were also named NAIA All-Conference athletes.
“Praise God the ladies’ team had a phenomenal season,” said head coach Bill Bippes. “The girls ran with a fire and a passion throughout the year, truly honoring God with the gifts that He has blessed them with. I am truly blessed to coach such a wonderful group of Christian ladies; this was a special season and it was very exciting to see them race every weekend.”
At the conference meet, the Spring Arbor ladies had 11 girls finish in under 20 minutes. Hudson won the race, finishing with a time of 18 minutes and 13 seconds. Nine girls also ran their lifetime bests and two girls ran college bests.
Hudson qualified for NAIA Nationals. She traveled to the Vancouver, Wash. and ran at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The race included the top 323 runners in the nation. Hudson finished forty-third.
The cross country program at SAU was also recognized by the NAIA national office as the fifth best active cross country in NAIA history.
With the season now complete, the Lady Cougars are ranked twenty-first. They were only the fourth team in NAIA history to receive votes for the first time after the conference meet.
Congratulations to Hudson and the rest of the Lady Cougar cross country runners on a successful season.
Congratulations also go out to Kyle Anderson from the men’s team for finishing twenty-third and earning All-American Honors.
[WRITER’S NOTE: ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE DECEMBER 2011 EDITION OF “THE PULSE”]