VANCOUVER, Wash. - Grace's cross country season officially came to a close on Friday at the 2023 NAIA National Championships.
The men and women both claimed 13th place in the nation with a pair of strong showings. Both finishes were the second-best in men’s and women’s team history.
For both teams, it’s the third-straight season that Grace’s men and women have finished in the NAIA’s top 25 at the championship race.
Kylie Sauder earned her third straight NAIA All-American nod, finishing 36th overall with a time of 22:29.1. Grace has four NAIA All-American finishes on the women’s side; Sauder is responsible for three of those.
On the women’s side, Grace maintained a grouping after Sauder, despite the large contingency of 331 runners.
Mallory Hiatt (23:40.8) finished 111th overall, and a pair of freshmen followed soon after. Tame Baylis (23:45.9) was 118th, and Cece Mitchell (23:52.2) was 128th.
Anna Hulstedt (24:10.2) and Esther Cameron (24:16.1) also stayed in a tight group, and Tara Friesen rounded out Grace’s efforts with a time of 26:42.0.
On the men’s side, Korry Hamlin paced the men when he crossed the finish line in 25:50.0; he placed 50th in the country in his final cross country race.
He was joined by two other seniors in the top three, including Dimitri Margaritidis in 61st place (25:55.1) and Logan Rufenacht in 79th place (26:06.8).
Brady Hunsberger (26:37.0) and Cole Johnston (26:53.1) finished within range of each other.
Brandon Kleber (27:05.6) and Justin Van Prooyen (27:24.1) completed the men’s performances at the national race.
Grace is currently accepting applications for its open head coaching vacancy for the cross country program. Interested parties should contact Grace’s Director of Athletics Chad Briscoe. Michael Moffitt is currently serving as the Director of Cross Country/Track and Field for the interim.