Lady Tiger cross country team finishes in a tie for third at national championships
Running on snow and ice, the Cowley College women’s cross country team had three runners named All-Americans while finishing in a tie for third place out of 44 teams at the NJCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships held Saturday in Fort Dodge, IA.
Cowley entered the meet ranked 10th and ended up officially placing fourth due to losing the tie-breaker with Daytona State College. Mesa Community College won the national championship, and Paradise Valley finished as the national runner-up.
"The ladies ran out of their minds and rose to the moment," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "We told the ladies we can either accept the snow and move on or let it defeat us before we even get on the line."
Cowley was led by freshman Linda Filipova, placing 11th with a time of 19:39.3 and earning Second Team All-American honors.
"She has been a steady force all season long and ran an amazing race," Rieth said.
Paradise Valley's Arianna Mason won the women's race with a time of 18:43.9.
Lady Tiger freshman Zuzana Bokova placed 42nd with a time of 20:45.5, and sophomore Pauline Althoff finished in 48th place with a time of 21:06.4. Both athletes were named Coaches Association All-Americans.
Freshman Jasmine Calvo was only four spots behind with a time of 21:09.8. Fellow freshmen Euvia Bennett placed 82nd (21:48.6), and Marta Herrero-Lombardo finished 96th (22:04.3) out of 300 runners at the meet.