Complete Results

WINNECONNE, WI - In the closest NCAA Division III women's cross country championship in more than a decade, Johns Hopkins missed a third straight national title by just one point. Washington University-St. Louis won the title with 98 points to edge the defending champion Blue Jays. MIT finished in third place (247 points) and UW-Eau Claire finished in fourth (265).
 
"It was a tough defeat, but I'm so proud of how well this team ran today," said head coach Bobby Van Allen. "We had some phenomenal performances led by Caelyn's sixth-place finish. Watching her move up throughout the race and hammer home the final stretch, outkicking Aly Wayne from Washington was simply amazing. I'm so happy for Tasha Freed, on earning her first-ever All-America honor, and Felicia Koerner career-best 22^nd-place finish."
 
Hopkins seemed poised to bring home its third straight title, and sixth in the last seven years, as the Blue Jays held the lead at the 2.3K, 3K and 5K points of the race. A late push by Washington University, led by individual champion Paige Lawler, saw the Bears grab their first title since 2011. In the team scoring, the Blue Jays placed one runner in the top 10, three in the top-20 and four in the top-30. The Bears meanwhile, had three runners in the top-10 and four in the top-25.
 
"Scoring under 100 points at an NCAA Championship is such an incredibly difficult task, and one we accomplished today," noted Van Allen. "Almost any year, that would win the title, but Washington University just put together an amazing day and certainly earned the title. This was a fantastic year and one that we can be proud of, yet provides motivation for the underclassman coming back next year."
 
Running in her first NCAA Championship race, Caelyn Reilly was in 10^th place at the 2.3K and 3K marks of the race. She moved into seventh through the 5K and crossed the finish line in sixth place with a time of 21:11.3 to pick up All-America honors. Just one year removed from finishing in 118^th place and running in her final collegiate cross country race, Tasha Freed turned in a career-best performance. She crossed the line in 21:40.6 to place 19^th and garner her first All-America honor.
 
Senior Felicia Koerner moved up four spots over the final 1000 km of her collegiate career to finish in 22^nd place and 21:44.5. She finished 20 spots higher than a year ago and seven spots better than her 2016 All-American finish. Sophomore Therese Olshanski was the fourth Blue Jay to cross the line. Like Koerner, she also moved up four spots over the last 1000km, to finish in 35^th place with a time of 21:54.2.
 
Senior Ellie Clawson raced to a 43^rd-place finish as she crossed in 22:03.4, to just miss All-America honors by three spots. Junior Sam Levy finished in 22:06.2 to claim 47^th place, finishing 170 places higher than she did in 2016. Junior Rebecca Grusby rounded out the Blue Jays' top seven finishers with a 101^st-place finish and a time of 22:33.3.
 
Today's championship was the closest margin of victory since 2006 when Middlebury edged Amherst, 144-145. In addition, Hopkins is the first team since 1995 to score under 100 points and not win the national championship. The Blue Jays' 99 points are their fourth best point total in program history.
 
This is the Blue Jays' seventh straight podium finish and first runner-up finish. Hopkins is the only school in the nation to finish in the top four in each of the last seven national championships.
 
The four All-Americans matches the program best as Hopkins also produced four All-Americans in 2014. Reilly's sixth-place finish is tied for the third best and is just the sixth top-10 finish in school history. Koerner and Olshanski each garnered the second All-America honor of their careers, becoming just the eighth and ninth runners in school history to do so.