Dalton State women finish 18th at NAIA nationals
The Dalton State Women’s Cross Country team recently traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to compete in the NAIA National Championship.
It was a chilly, windy, and muddy affair, but it was just the kind of weather a tough bunch of ladies embrace when it comes time to toe the line. And when the mud was settled, the Lady Roadrunners managed to finish as the 18th best team in the country.
The Lady Birds were led by sophomore Kathryn Vradenburgh who ran a personal best 18:16 and finished 19th overall. That was good enough for her garner AllAmerican honors. She was 29th with less than a quarter of a mile to go and finished with a strong kick. That was the theme of the day for the Roadrunners.
The team was 22nd at the 2-mile mark of the race and picked up 80 places over the last mile. They also moved up one spot, from 19th to 18th over the last tenth of a mile.
Freshman Riley Jo Ford was the next finisher for the Lady Birds coming in at 63rd place with a season best time of 18:52. She became only the third Lady Roadrunner to finish in under 19 minutes for any 5K Cross Country race. It was a good finish for the SSAC Individual Champion.
Finishing third for the Roadrunners was junior Alex Gass. The Heritage High School alum’s time of 19:41 was good enough for 160th place overall, and was just two seconds and six places ahead of senior Kay Vradenburgh who finished 166th in 19:43. It was a personal best for Kay.
Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Roadrunners was sophomore Kate Roberts who ran a personal best 20:11 to place 211th. Also running a personal best was the No. 6 Roadrunner, freshman Kayla Mattox, another Ringgold native who ran for the Chattanooga Patriots in high school. She cut 18 seconds from her previous best time when she crossed the line in 20:42.
Also competing for the Lady Birds was sophomore Haley Tillery who fought hard to finish with all she had.
“I am so very proud of these ladies,” Coach Dean Thompson said. “They went to the National Championships determined to show the rest of the country what they could do and they represented Dalton State College very well. I don’t know what the best finish has been for SSAC schools in the Women’s National Championship race, but we finished as high as any I have seen. These ladies have a lot to be proud of.
“Overall, just wow! This team has come so far in the last couple of years. It is a product of their talent, but also their work ethic. They work really hard and they believe in and support each other. They’re already excited about what they can accomplish this fall as they will have everyone back. This time, with higher expectations than ever.”