CORVALLIS, Ore. – College of Idaho finished 24 points ahead of the runner up as the Yotes claimed the 2023 NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championship on Friday in Vancouver, Washington.
Ellyse Tingelstad finished second overall and four runners from College of Idaho made the Top 10 to help lead to the victory. Along with Tingelstad, Sage Martin, Abbey Shirts and Kahea Figueira all completed the 6K course fastly to earn All-American honors. It was a complete team effort to win the title as the Yotes previous best had been runner up on four occations.
Tingelstad finished just 12 seconds behind the lead runner with a time of 21:16.1 for her fourth All-American honor. Both College of Idaho runners Martin (21:39.4) and Shirts (21:41.9) finished within seconds of each other at third and fifth respectively. Figueira (21:46.5) completed the race in seventh place.
The fifth runner and the key to the championship was the 64th-place finish of junior Charlie Duff, who crossed the line in 23:14.1. Also for C of I was Molly Connor (92nd, 23:43.5) and Julia Gilbert (103rd, 23:56.6).
Following the race, College of Idaho’s Dominic Bolin was named the 2023 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. This is just the second year of Bolin’s head coaching tenure. This marks the team's third weekly honor as the Yotes conclude its season in historic fashion.