VANCOUVER, Wa. The Tabor College Women's Cross Country team competed for the first time in program history today at the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Washington.
The Lady Bluejays came into the meet at the No. 14 team in the country after a solid performance at the KCAC Championships two weekends ago, finishing in Second Place. They joined a loaded field including teams from all over the country, with the Lady Bluejays racing against several of these teams throughout the regular season.
Brooke Wiebe was the first of the Lady Bluejays to cross the finish line, as had been the case all season. Her time of 22:50.6 was good for 45
th place out of 334.
Aubrey Bahner would be the second runner from Tabor to cross the finish, placing 68
th with a time of 23:18.2.
Danielle Allison and
Hannah Grover finished next, with Allison finishing 113
th with a time of 23:42.3, and Grover coming in at 146
th with a time of 24:02.9.
Sonya Zimmerman finished with a time of 25:01.1 which was good for 254
th, while
Adelia Janssen and
Julianna Maxfield would round out the field for the Lady Jays, finishing in 306
th with a time of 26:35.4 and finishing in 309
th with a time of 26:43.7 respectively.
These efforts from the Tabor women helped secure a 19
th place finish overall in the program's first ever team appearance at the NAIA National Championships.
The NAIA also released the 2023 Daktronics NAIA Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athletes on Thursday, just one day prior to the National Championships. The Lady Bluejays came away with six honorees: Allison, Bahner, Wiebe, Zimmerman, along with Kaylee DeAngelis and
Adrienne Selzer. Each athlete chosen for this honor must maintain a 3.5 GPA (Grade Point Average) or higher while also having attended the school for at least one full year.
Tabor College Head Women's Cross Country Coach Rylan Hincher had some comments about his team's trip to the National Championships, "Great day for our team overall. First team appearance and our women walk away with a top 20 finish. Brooke put herself in it and is now the highest finisher in Tabor College history at the national meet with her 45th place finish. Aubrey records the second highest finish in Tabor History with her 68th place finish! It was a great experience for our crew and a great learning experience going forward. This season was very special for our program and a huge momentum builder for what we will accomplish in the future!"
The Lady Bluejays have concluded their highly successful season and will look to build on that momentum in the coming Indoor Track season in the Winter, and the Outdoor Track season in the fall.
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).
