The Lady Archers joined sixty-four runners from fourteen different schools to compete at the NCCAA Division II National Championship race in Joplin, Missouri.
Bob Jones took first with 26 points, Alice Lloyd took second in 71 and Maranatha Baptist took third with 90 points. The Lady Archers gave a brave effort to grab fourth place with 118 points.
Hannah Branson finished first for the Archers in 21:35, making the top twenty and dropping over a minute from her regionals race three weeks previous. Abby Alder and Leyda Gabriel pushed to 22:06 and 22:07 respectively, both running over a minute faster than previous 5k’s this season. Katherine Moreno finished strong in 22:51, 23-seconds faster than her previous record. Sarah Braswell finished in 23:16, setting a new personal record by over a minute-and-a-half. Rachel Dean came next in 23:37, breaking 24 for the first time and continuing to smash her previous personal records and improve as a runner.
“This year’s national team did not have one person that ever competed in a college Cross Country race before this year, with new freshmen and ladies that were new to the sport. I am very proud of these ladies to come in 4th in the Nation! I was blessed to watch each one of them improve as runners this year and for them to see the potential they have at running!” Coach Troy Fichter
The Lady Archer should have 4 underclassmen returning for the Fall 2022 season with 4 Seniors that will be graduating in the Spring of 2022. The hope of Coach Troy Fichter is that more ladies from Moody will join the team along with incoming Freshmen to assist the 4 returners.