ST. LEO, Fla.— Adam State University and Grand Valley State won the women’s and men’s respective team crowns at the 2021 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships held at the Abbey Course in St. Leo, here in Florida, on Saturday morning. Click here for Complete Results.
Despite No. 2 ranked Grand Valley States women’s team putting the first two runners across the finishing line in the individual race, the No. 1 ranked Adams State women team packed well as a squad to place all five scorers in the top 20 to capture their 19th National Championship.
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Meanwhile, the men’s team crown went to Grand Valley State after the Lakers dominated their rivals on a day when No. 1 defending champion Colorado Mines faded to third place after front-runner Dillon Powell had a major mishap two-third through way into the 10K race and never recorded.
Adams State Repeats For Women’s Team Crown
Adams State captured the women’s team crown with a score of 59 points while Grand Valley was 20 points behind in second place with 79 points. The Grizzlies entered the weekend’s championship as the favorites after dominant performances in their conference and regional championships and they never disappointed on Saturday on their way to winning their second straight cross country national championship, following the victory in the 2019 season.
Grand Valley State’s Hannah Becker secured the top spot in the women’s 6K individual race with a time of 20:22. Her teammate Klaudia O’Malley came in second in 20:26.9 with the top three completed by Fatima Alanis of Queens (N.C.) with 20:28.1.
Grand Valley State Battles To Men’s Crown
On the men’s side, a dramatic and entertaining individual race opened the door for No. 2 Grand Valley State to capture the team title with No. 3 Adams State finished in second.
The Lakers overcame their barriers to finish with 43 team points, 41 points less than the Grizzlies, with 84 points while Colorado Mines rounded out the top three with 123 points.
Grand Valley State’s victory was well set up by the 1-2 finish of Isaac Harding and Tanner Chada.
Harding won the individual 10K national championship race with a time of 29:58.3 with his teammate Chada finishing as the runner-up with a time of 30:07.1. CarLee Stimpfel of Saginaw Valley was in third at 30:09.0.
