Hillary Holt (C of I) won the national title as the Yotes took 2nd
Holt Wins National Title at NAIA XC Championships
VANCOUVER, Wash. – College of Idaho junior Hillary Holt cruised to victory and the Yotes took second to lead the Cascade Conference at the 2012 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning at Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Wash.
Holt covered the 5000-meter course in 17 minutes flat, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Lindsey Wilson senior Sharon Ronoh. Eastern Oregon senior Karlee Coffey took third with a time of 17:29 to earn All-American honors.
"I am really, really happy and I had a great day," Holt said. "The gun went off and the race started and I felt really good and I took off and took the lead. I had the best race of the season and my team had an awesome race today too."
College of Idaho’s Sarah Johnson and Sora Klopfenstein took ninth and 10th respectively to push the Yotes into the top three nationally as C of I took second as a team with 112 points, just 14 points back of team champion British Columbia.
In the team competition, Eastern Oregon finished 13th nationally with 321 points. Northwest Christian was just one spot back in 14th with 329 points, led by a 36th-place finish from Emily Svendson-Mclean. Concordia took 16th with 439 points to round out the CCC runners competing as a team.
The meet was the fourth straight season that the national championships were held in Vancouver, Wash. Next year, the NAIA crowns will be handed out in Lawrence, Kan.
NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship Results: Individual/Team