The Lady Archers competed at the NCCAA Division II National Championship race in Warsaw, Indiana on Friday, November 15th. Crown College took first with 33 points, Bob Jones came second with 39 points, and Moody Bible Institute claimed 3rd out of the 6 scoring teams with 96 points.
Freshman Katie Morden finished first for the Lady Archers, pushing herself to a time of 21:50 and breaking her 5k personal record (PR) by 1 minute 11 seconds. Sophomore Kassidy Kleinheksel was close behind in 21:53, setting a new PR and breaking her season record by 31 seconds. Judy Jang (junior) was next in 22:50, crushing her PR by 1 minute 30 seconds, with Natalie Lange (freshman) following closely in 22:56, 1 minute 41 seconds faster than her PR. Cora Muller (sophomore) finished strong in 23:30, setting a new PR by 39 seconds and completing the score for the Archers. Following closely, Samantha Duehring (freshman) pushed to 23:32, 1 minute 56 seconds faster than her PR.
Despite feeling under the weather, Felicity Severs (freshman) achieved a time of 23:30. Rebekah Freund (freshman) was next (23:37, 30-second PR). Rebekah Berni ran a brave race despite battling injury to finish in 23:46. Also finishing strong and setting new PRs: Allison Duehring (25:12, 46-second PR), Hannah Flowney (25:38, 1 minute 16 second PR), Ansley Sovine (25:43, 1 minute 11 second PR), and Molly Pearson (29:38, 58-second PR).
Coach Troy Fichter: "I am so happy that the ladies were able to take 3rd at Nationals. The team gave everything they had and showed so much improvement! I am incredibly excited to see what this team can do next year. I am truly blessed to have such a great group of young ladies with tons of potential!"