LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A trio of Gustavus cross country student-athletes raced at the NCAA Championships on Saturday. Tierney Winter (Sr., Waterville) highlighted the day with an All-American performance.
Winter crossed the line in 18th place with a time of 21:51.1, which is her career best and seventh fastest 6k time in program history. Winter is the first Gustie woman to earn All-America status since Hailey Harren took eighth place in 2006. Parley Hannan, a sophomore from Ithica (N.Y.), won this year’s national title with a time of 20:53.8.
“It was another challenge and she stepped up to it and succeeded,” Head Coach Brenden Huber said. “I told her before the race that she was built for this moment and she had to put herself in great position. She separated early and was strong enough to stay up there. It was fun to watch her stick her nose out there and could not be more proud.”
Garet Grant (So., Winona) crossed the line in 78th place with a time of 25:19.9 and Andrew Stumbo (Jr., Boone, Iowa) took 144th in 25:45.8. Patrick Watson, a senior from Stevenson, won the national championship with a time of 24:13.9.
“We knew our achilles heel was not getting out fast enough and we got buried early,” Huber said. “We did a great job of moving up throughout the entire race but it wasn’t enough with such a loaded field. This is a great learning opportunity for us. The times were outstanding considering the muddy course.”
Congrats, Tierney! So proud of you.