BETTENDORF, Iowa – Four top-10 finishes, including the individual champion and runner-up, propelled the No. 19 Olivet Nazarene University women’s cross country team to a league title at the 2024 CCAC Championship meet Saturday afternoon at Crow Creek Park.
ONU scored just 33 points with four members donning purple and yellow gold finishing inside the top 10 to snap a nine-year league title drought. St. Francis (Ill.), who had won the previous nine CCAC titles, finished runner-up with 57 points followed by CCAC newcomers Viterbo at 91 points.
Freshman harrier Aleigha Garrison paced the eight-team, 85-runner field with her time of 22:09.0 to earn CCAC Runner of the Year honors. The Savoy, Ill., native becomes the fourth Tiger in as many years to be the top freshman finisher at the conference meet, with her teammates Hannah Haag (2023), Catherine White (2022), and Eleanor Fournier (2021) accomplishing the feat in their respective seasons.
Haag was the individual runner-up, completing the 6K course 10 seconds behind her teammate at 22:19.1. Fellow freshman Claire Carter placed sixth overall with her time of 22:44.7. White was the fourth Tiger in the top-10 with her eighth-place finish at 21:18.2.
All four of those Tigers earned all-conference accolades for their performances. Fournier nearly missed all-conference placement, rounding out the ONU scoring in 16th place with a time of 23:34.9.
The Tigers now head to the NAIA National Championships on Nov. 22 in Columbia, Mo., at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
–ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
To learn more about Olivet Athletics, visit onutigers.com.
