Women's cross country finishes 7th in nation; two earn all-America honors

By Chloe Moryl

As seven mud-covered Grinnellians crossed the finish line on Nov. 18, they came to the end of an unprecedented season. The women’s cross country team had sealed Grinnell’s place in history as the first team in the Midwest Conference to win an NCAA Regional title a week earlier, and their seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Championships established the program as one of the best in the country.

This year was the first time Sarah Spencer ’08 and Sara Brady ’07 competed at Nationals, and the two top Pioneer runners earned all-America honors. Spencer came in third place overall with a time of 22:52.00, while Brady came in 35th place with a time of 23:54.00.

Injuries had kept Spencer from competing at a top level in past seasons.

“I think the reason Nationals meant so much to me is because I’ve battled injuries for the past two and a half years, so I didn’t know if I’d be able to get back into running again,” Spencer said. “My biggest goal was to make it to the end of the season and to stay healthy, so to have done that and performed well was something that I didn’t know [would be possible].”

Brady joined the cross country team as a junior, and she has exceeded her own expectations by becoming one of the top runners in the country.

“This kind of represents … the time I’ve put into something, “ Brady said. “And [proves] that hard work really can pay off.”

But the Pioneers’ long hours of hard work couldn’t have prepared the runners for the soggy course in West Chester, Ohio.

“The conditions made it a lot more of an intense experience,” said Spencer. “The race was in a park, and it had rained a lot leading up to the meet. We were running through several inches of mud and water and runners’ feet were getting stuck and their shoes were being pulled off; some people were finishing with only one or no shoes.”

Spencer and Brady were supported by three other Pioneers who finished in the top 100 out of over 250 runners. Katie Ryan ’07 placed 83rd, Allison Louthan ’08 finished 92nd and Becky Bessinger ’09 crossed the finish line 93rd.

Grinnell is expecting to have a strong incoming first-year class next year to build on the team’s recent success, which has included three straight MWC titles.

“I think recruiting has gone well this year for [coach] Evelyn [Freeman],” said Spencer. “How this season went will make the recruiting easier because they will come to her instead of her having to seek them out.”

Although they are losing nine seniors before next season, the team looks forward to continued success.

“We’re losing a couple of the really crucial members of our team,” Spencer said. “But I would love to see the younger runners step up and be able to fill their shoes so we can have another exciting season like this one.”