Saint Louis — Saturday in Wisconsin, the Washington University women's cross country team won their second NCAA Division-III national championship since 2011. The men also finished as NCAA National Runner-Up, their highest finish ever. Oh, and Paige Lawler won the women's cross country individual national title.
5 On Your Side Sports' Josh Helmuth sat down with head coach Jeff Stiles to talk about the thrill of another championship, what goes into training a consistent, great runner, and where he hopes to take his program from here.
Fun-filled Bears cross country facts:
- Both the WashU women and men were ranked No. 2 in Division III prior to the race, and the one-two finish is the best joint placement in school history.
- The WashU women’s cross country team captured the second National Title in program history (previously doing so in 2011 – both championships with Jeff Stiles).
- The national title is the 23rd in all WashU athletic history. (Stiles is responsible for four altogether: two w/ women’s cross country as well as one w/ women’s indoor track & field and one w/ women’s outdoor track & field).
- The WashU women narrowly edged out the back-to-back national champion Johns Hopkins University, 98-99 (lower point total wins, combines the placement of each teams top-five runners).
- Paige Lawler ran to the individual national title, crossing the 6K finish line in 22:55.0. She is the first cross country national champ in program history.
- WashU women had four runners earn All-American honors: Paige Lawler (1st), Aly Wayne (7th), Sophie Watterson (13th) and Lisa Gorham (29th).
- Seniors Lisa Gorham and Molly Shepherd had career-best times to help WashU narrowly edge Johns Hopkins, in a race that every second counted.
- The men’s national runner up finish is the highest placement in program history.
- The WashU men had three All-American finishes: Brad Hodkinson (7th), Nick Matteucci (10th) and Peter Johnsrud (31st).
Photos courtesy of Kevin Stiner
