Women's Cross Country Season Review

COMING UP: Season Complete
 
LADY YOTES PLACE SIXTH AT NATIONALS: Ranked No. 7 heading into the NAIA National Championships, the Lady Yotes were in prime position for a Top-10 finish – but upped the ante in the St. Louis metro area. Behind an All-America performance from Lila Klopfenstein and a solid scoring pack just behind her, C of I grinded out a sixth-place finish – one of four Top-10 marks for Cascade Conference schools at the meet. Just behind Klopfenstein was true freshman Molly Vitale-Sullivan, who finished 31st (one spot out of All-America status), while key runs in the Top-125 by Ashtyn Ellis, Emily Hawgood and Kaitlyn Schut capped the big day for the Yotes.
 
WHAT A RIDE FOR KLOPFENSTEIN: For Lila Klopfenstein, the 23rd-place finish at the national meet closed out a banner cross country career – her third All-America honor of her cross country career. Klopfenstein, who placed eighth at the NAIA meet as a freshman and seventh as a sophomore, is one of only three women's cross country athletes to be a three-time All-American, joining former teammates Hillary Holt (2011, 2012, 2013) and her older sister Sora Klopfenstein (2011, 2012, 2013) in the elite club.
 
ANOTHER TOP-10 FINISH: In just over a decade, the C of I women cross country team has become one of the top programs in not only the Northwest, but the entire NAIA – and the sixth-place finish at the national meet only adds to the marked success of the program. 2016 was the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Lady Yotes have finished in the Top-10 – placing eighth in 2015, taking seventh in 2011 and finishing as the national runners-up in both 2012 and 2013.
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE SEASON: The Lady Yotes had another dominant season against NAIA competition – opening with a head-to-head win over Montana Western at the Tailgate Classic, while topping all NAIA foes at three-straight meets – the Montana State Invite, the Montana Invite and the Warrior Invite – all at varying distances. C of I took second at the Cascade Conference Championships to eventual national runner-up Northwest Christian, but closed the gap on NCU at the NAIA Championships. In all, 13 runners competed for the team – including seven runners who finished a five kilometer course in under 19 minutes.
 
AHEAD TO 2017: The Lady Yotes will lose just two seniors from their squad – Lila Klopfenstein and Mishal Cotugno – with the bulk of the athletes set to make big leaps from this season. C of I got a monster freshman season from Molly Vitale-Sullivan, while sophomores Kaitlyn Schut and Tamika Russell, along with junior Ashtyn Ellis, made huge strides from last season.
 
2016 TOP TIMES: Race by Race times and results for the C of I cross country team can be found online.

ABOUT THE COACH: Austin Basterrechea is in his sixth season with the Coyote program and his first as head coach of the cross country and track teams. He joined the coaching staff in 2015 as the Yotes top assistant, helping the men's and women's cross country teams to Top-10 finishes at the NAIA Championships, with the women's track team winning their fourth-straight Cascade Conference title.  He assumed head coaching honors in August of 2016. The native of Gooding is a 2014 graduate of the College, where he was a four-time NAIA All-American and four-time CCC champion; earned All-America honors indoors in the heptathlon in 2012 and 2014, while earning All-America honors outdoors in the decathlon in 2013 and 2014; was a two-time CCC decathlon champ, while also claiming titles in the long jump and 110-meter hurdles; a three-time CCC All-Academic Team selection, a two time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, and two-time first-team Capital One Academic All-American; competed in the 2011 USTAF Junior Nationals.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:  For more on the C of I women's cross country teams, visit the homepage of the Lady Yotes.