Meet Information
Race:  NCAA Division III National Championship - 6K
Location: Lansing, Mich. - Olivet College & Great Lansing Sports Authority, Host
Short Story: Claire Walters earns All-American honors by placing 19th at the NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship

Race Highlights
The Franciscan Cross Country had representation in the NCAA National Championship once again with junior Claire Walters being the lone qualifier, as they traveled to Michigan for the second weekend in a row. They would be running in Lansing on Forest Akers East Golf Course. Just like the Great Lakes Regional Meet it was quite chilly with temperatures in the 20s for the 11 am start. 

Claire Walters started out of box thirty five out of fifty starting boxes. She started alongside a familiar face in Carmen Medvit from Geneva, as all 293 runners were anxiously ready for the race to begin. Walters got a great start, as she sat in 9th place after a first mile time of 5:51.0. She stayed in the top 10 all the way up to the 3.8K checkpoint. Most of the course was slick and covered in packed snow, which led to a slower track then last week. The rest of the pack slowly caught up to her, which resulted Walters sitting at 16th with one kilometer to go. Walters finished it out strong in the frigid temperatures to finish 19th place with a time of 22:28.1 and earn All-American status. The Top 40 runners earned All-American medals, as shown below.
 

She joins Grace Galligan now as the second All-American in the Franciscan Women's Cross Country history. Her 19th place finish is the best by any Franciscan runner at the National Championship, as she bested Grace Galligan's 24th place finish from 2018. Walters is the fifth All-American across all sports in the Division III era for Franciscan. Kassie Parker from Loras won the individual title, as she beat the field by 36 seconds. University of Chicago won the team title with a score of 119 points. 

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