MONTICELLO, Ark. – For the first time in program history, Arkansas Tech captured the Great American Conference Women’s Cross Country Championship title as the Golden Suns ran down Ouachita Baptist over the final mile. East Central’s Winnie Kipsang won the individual title.

After producing four second-place finishes in the past five GAC meets, the Golden Suns claimed the team title by virtue of placing four in the top 13. They finished with 59 points. Audrey Hill paced Tech after she finished fifth. Amaya Grant finished seventh and Avery Stanley crossed in 10th to give the Golden Suns three First Team performers. Peyton Carson finished 13th to claim a spot on the Second Team.

Kipsang became the third Tiger to win the individual title as well as the league’s Runner of the Year honor. Her winning time, 17:31.91, ranks as the fifth-fastest time in GAC Championship history.

Ouachita Baptist finished second, five points behind Tech. Two Tigers, Kate Nachtigal and Allison Hylkema, earned First Team All-GAC honors as Nachtigal finished fourth and Hylkema placed sixth. Four Tigers landed on the All-GAC Second Team in Elise Knight, Lucy Holden, Blair Turpen and Emelia Eriksson.

Led by Kipsang, ECU finished third with 70 points. Sheilah Bii finished third to give the Tigers two First-Team All-GAC runners. Sheilah Cheruiyot grabbed a spot on the All-GAC Second Team after she finished in 14th.

Oklahoma Baptist took fourth. The Bison’s Shayna Hendrix, Kieran Paxton, Adelaide Murphy and Trista Etheridge earned Second-Team All-GAC accolades.

Harding finished fifth and Southeastern Oklahoma State garnered sixth. The Lady Bisons’ Vivien Kipkorir took second to Kipsang. Kipkorir’s time, 17:35.39, represents the seventh-fastest time in GAC Championship history. She secured the league’s Freshman of the Year accolade. Josie Parks finished eighth to earn a First-Team All-GAC spot. The Savage Storm’s Katlen Clem claimed a spot on the All-GAC First Team by virtue of her ninth-place finish Northwestern Oklahoma State finished in seventh, followed by Southern Arkansas, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Southern Nazarene, Henderson State and Arkansas-Monticello. The league also honored its top student athletes with its Elite Scholar Athlete award, presented by Conway Regional Health System and its Academic Honor Roll. Ouachita Baptist’s Allison Hylkema, Elise Knight and Abby McElhaney, Arkansas Tech’s Mackenzie Epperson and Alyson Greathouse, Arkansas-Monticello’s Emmy Apodaca, East Central’s Madison Ham, Harding’s Kaia Bieker, Oklahoma Baptist’s Zoe Strange and Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Katlen Clem all received the Elite Scholar honor as all 10 own perfect 4.00 grade-point averages. An additional 64 GAC standouts made the Academic Honor Roll.

 

WWW.GREATAMERICANCONFERENCE.COM

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