CORVALLIS, Ore. – Alauna Carstens of The Evergreen State College was named the 2025 Cascade Collegiate Conference McDonalds’s Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, presented by UEN, announced Wednesday by the conference office.
Carstens, a junior from Shelton, Wash., had a remarkable season for the Geoducks. She claimed first place at both the PLU Invite (21:19) and the George Oja Invite (20:15) while finishing third at the Willamette Invite (16:59). She went on to win the Cascade Conference Championship with a time of 20:49 and capped her season with a fourth-place finish at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship in 21:02.
Along the way, Carstens set school records in the 5k (16:59) and 6k (20:15), while also breaking the conference 6k record (20:15) and the CCC Championship 6k record (20:49). She earned three CCC and NAIA Runner of the Week honors, was named the NAIA West Region Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year and received both CCC All-Conference and NAIA All-American accolades for her exceptional performance.
Bushnell University received the conference Athletic Solutions Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2025 Women’s Cross Country Season.