JOPLIN, MO (November 17, 2007) — Led by seniors Tanya Gaurmer (Westminster, Colo.) and Brittany Somers (Los Alamos, N.M.), junior Lavenna Mullenbach (Georgetown, Texas) and three other All-America performances, the Adams State College women’s cross country team won a fifth straight and 13th overall NCAA Division II National Championship in record-setting fashion at the Missouri Southern State University.
The Grizzly men tied for second with arch-rival Western State just seven points behind repeat national champion Abilene Christian (Texas) in the closest race in 10 years. They have now been second in each of the last four years after winning a title in 2003.
Gaurmer finished the 6,000-meter course in a time of 20 minutes, 43.3 seconds to finish third overall, good for her tenth career All-America certificate. Somers, who won four cross country titles at Los Alamos High School and was a part of five championship teams, including her 2003 redshirt season at ASC, finished eighth overall and seventh amongst team scorers in 20:55.4 to garner her ninth career All-America honor. Mullenbach finished 13th overall and 11th amongst team scorers in 21:06 and is now a 5-time All-American. She has been an All-America member of ASC’s last three national championship teams.
Redshirt freshman Ashley Quintana (Pecos, N.M.), junior Heather Wood (Los Alamos, N.M.) and sophomore Janette McCarroll (La Jara, Colo.) also earned All-America honors as the Grizzlies posted a team score of 63, an incredible and NCAA Division II championship record 115 points better than runner-up Seattle Pacific (Wash.), led by individual champion Jessica Pixler. Four other teams were within 13 points of SPU in what was a tight battle for second place.
That 115-point margin of victory was 22 point larger than Western State’s previous record in 2000.
ASC, which also won three NAIA National Titles before moving to the NCAA Division II ranks, also set a championship record in 1999, the team’s last visit to Joplin. On that day, the Grizzly women set a low-point record of 23 winning a ninth straight national crown, the eighth at the Division II level.
Quintana, who was named as the RMAC Freshman of the Year last month, finished 21st overall and 18th amongst team scorers in 21:23.0. The effort was good for her first career All-America honor.
Wood completed the victory as she finished 27th overall and 24th amongst team scorers in 21:34.2. McCarroll was just two places and 3.2 seconds behind as she became an All-American for the first time with her 29th place finish.
The top 30 finishers and the top 30 American-born finisher earn those honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Sophomore Laura Knapp (Alamosa, Colo.) was also a part of the national championship team as she finished 118th overall and 99th amongst team scorers in 23:16.6.
Although the Grizzly men came up just short of their first title since 2003, the day was not without some solid efforts. Sophomore Aaron Braun (Fort Collins, Colo.) won his fifth career All-America honor as he finished second on the 10K course behind Abilene Christian’s Nicodemus Naimadu who became the first NCAA athlete — male or female — to ever win four individual national titles.
Naimadu won the race in 29:39.7 seconds while Braun finished in 30:05.6, just ahead of Abilene Christian’s Julius Nyango. Grizzly sophomore Reuben Chebon-Mwei (Kapsabet, Kenya) was fourth in 30:09.5 to earn his first career All-America honor.
The Grizzlies’ Brian Medigovich (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) also finished in the top 10, claiming ninth place (8th in team scoring) with a time of 30:31.0. He finished ahead of Western State’s top runner– Scott Dahlberg. However, the Mountaineers had four other runners in the next eight finishers as they and the Grizzlies scored 66 points.
Abilene Christian, which completed its scoring with 29th and 30th places finishes by Philip Birgen and Amos Sang, had a total of 59 points. The 7-point differential was the smallest in the meet since 1997 when South Dakota edged Central Missouri State by five points.
The Grizzlies also got solid efforts from redshirt freshman Ryan McNiff (Los Alamos, N.M.), now a first time All-American and senior Nick Lara (Alamosa, Colo.). McNiff finished 22nd overall and 20th overall in a time of 31:13.0. Lara, a 6-time national champion on the track, finished 38th overall and 32nd amongst team scorers in a time of 31:39.4. Because he was amongst the top 30 American-born All-America finishers, Lara will also earn his first career cross country All-America honor.
Antonio Lopez (Alamosa, Colo.) and Giacomo Butler (Simi Valley, Calif.) also competed at the national championship for the first time. They finished 88th and 112th, respectively.