2017 Women's Cross Country Season Review

COMING UP: Season Complete
 
ANOTHER TOP-10 FINISH AT NATIONALS: A banner 2017 season came to a close on the banks of the Columbia River, as the Lady Yotes competed at the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championships at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash. C of I used an extremely tight pack to finish sixth overall in the stacked field – the ninth time that the Yotes have placed in the Top-10.
 
VITALE-SULLIVAN EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Leading the way for C of I was sophomore standout Molly Vitale Sullivan, who traversed the 5,000-meter circuit in 17:36 – just two seconds off her career-best time – placing fifth overall to earn NAIA All-America honors. It was her second All-America honor of her career – having earned accolades in outdoor track last season. Vitale-Sullivan became just the fifth C of I runner to earn a Top-10 finish at Nationals – joining two-time NAIA champ Hillary Holt, Sora Klopfenstein, Lila Klopfenstein and Sarah Johnson.
 
IN THE TOP-100: All five scoring runners for the Lady Yotes finished in the Top-100 at the meet. Senior Ashtyn Ellis recorded a time of 18:30, placing 49th overall; sophomore Abigail Craig clocked a time of 18:41 to take 61^st; freshman Erin Moyer placed 85th (18:57) and junior Tamika Russell took 86th (18:58) – with all four racers just off their season-best times set at the speedy Warrior Invite course in California.
 
SEASON RECAP: After a slow start to the season – thanks to wildfires in the Pacific Northwest that forced training indoors – the Lady Yotes recorded a stellar regular season with team wins at the Cascade Conference Preview Meet and the Warrior Invite. C of I finished a close second at the CCC Championships in November and earned the second at-large bid to the NAIA Championships based on their No. 7 NAIA Top-25 ranking. A total of 12 runners competed for the team during the season.
 
ACADEMIC AWARDS: A total of seven student-athletes were honored by the Cascade Conference as part of their All-Academic Team (3.20 cumulative grade point average and at least a sophomore in academic standing at the College. Earning the honor wee Abigail Craig, Kathryn Craig, Sage Czelder, Tamika Russell, Kaitlyn Schut, Molly Vitale-Sullivan and Lilly Whitehead.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The future for the Lady Yotes looks bright – as the team featured just one senior (Ashtyn Ellis) – with six of the seven runners from Nationals returning.