Women's XC Team Misses National Title by One Point

Saturday, November 12, 2022 - 5:30 PM ET | Dylan Kessler

Tallahassee, Fla. - The Mesa Thunderbirds women's cross country team was lead by an individual runner-up performance by Anna Harmon to finish as the national runner-ups at the NJCAA Div. II National Championships.

It was a close team battle between Mesa and Lansing (MI). The lady T-Birds held the led in the team standings for a majority of the race but weren't able to close it out over the final 30 meters of the 5000-meter race and lost to the Stars by one point, 57-58.

Mesa's runner-up title is the highest finish at a national championship meet in program history. The Stars have now won back-to-back national championships. Heartland (IL) (120 points), Coconino (124 points), and Wallace State (AL) (124 points) round out the top five teams.

"A very bittersweet day for the women's team," says Head Coach Dan Pescador. "Our team battled all year long and it was very unfortunate to see them come up short of their goal of winning a national championship. It was very sad to see Kate stumble and fall 30 meters before the finish line. If she would've been able to hold on and a couple other of our athletes manage the adversity presented, our team would be national champions. I'm so proud of Anna. She had the goal to finish in the top three individually and she delivered with an amazing runner-up performance!"

Click HERE to view the complete results.

T-Birds women's finishers at the NJCAA Div. II Championships (5,000 meters):

Anna Harmon (2nd - 18:44.3 PB, All-American)

Kate Brockman (8th - 19:39.8, All-American)

Story Alexander (16th - 19:53.1, Honarable Mention All-American)

MaKena Thornton (17th - 20:00.5, Honarable Mention All-American)

Ryan Heiliger (19th - 20:04.5, Honarable Mention All-American)

Taylor Jacobs (46th - 20:53.7)

Lucy Lines (47th - 20:54.6)