Wayne State University Athletics

Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics

Wayne State competed in its third NCAA Championship in five years this weekend.

Women's Cross Country 11/18/2023 5:56:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Cross Country Ends Season at NCAA Championships

The Warriors placed 27th out of 34 schools with 607 points on Saturday.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Wayne State University women's cross country program completed its 2023 campaign by racing in the six-kilometer event at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships for a second straight season. This year's event was hosted by Missouri Southern State University at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin.

The Warriors finished 27th out of 34 competing teams with 607 points across their seven representatives. The NCAA limits teams to seven runners during regional and national championships meets.

It was also the third time that the squad battled at the NCAA Championships under head coach Grant Lofdahl. WSU placed 25th in 2019 and ninth in 2022.

Following the afternoon, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its final national rankings for Division II, and the Warriors ended the 2023 campaign as the 27th-ranked program in the nation.

"Things went smoothly leading up to the meet and we were coming off strong performances at GLIAC's and at the NCAA Midwest Regional, but today just was not our day. Bri and Reagan went out and tried get in good position early on, but the race went out extremely fast up front. We were in 21st place as a team at the 1K split, and unfortunately never got any higher than that. Reagan was able to move up into the top 100 in the last kilometer and Thailyia and Katherine moved up significantly in the second half. Realistically, this group of women had not had a bad race in two years. You have to take the good with the bad in this sport, and today was not a great day for us as a team. As a whole, I'm very proud of the team and the season we were able to put together. We'll miss this group of seniors and they've been tremendous for the program, but now we'll take a little rest and then get ready for track season," said head coach Grant Lofdahl about the morning.

Wayne State ranked ahead of the host Lions of MSSU, as well as Charleston (W.V.), Southern Connecticut State, Slippery Rock, Roberts Wesleyan, Southern New Hampshire, and Davis & Elkins.

Grand Valley State claimed the national championship for the team category with 59 points. The rest of the top five included Adams State (86), Colorado School of Mines (121), Western Colorado (150), and Winona State (219). Individually, Lindsay Cunningham of Winona won the 6K at a time of 19:30.10.

Leading the Warriors on Saturday in Joplin was Reagan Justice (Canton, Mich. / Salem) in 93rd with a mark of 21:31.70. The junior was the lone WSU member in the top 100, and she improved upon her time from last season's championship race by 16 seconds.

Thailyia Christensen (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing) came into the weekend as the only Wayne State runner to have competed in each of the last two championships (2022 and 2019), which made Saturday the third of her collegiate career. The redshirt senior was next to finish with a mark of 21:55.70 for 132nd in the field of 260 finishers. She just nipped her previous best NCAA time by less than a second with the result.

Reshirt senior Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich.) placed 135th overall (114th in team scoring) with a time of 21:58.0 in her first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

Other Warriors to participate in their second NCAA Championship meet were Briana Vojinov (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) and Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich. / Northville). Vojinov crossed the line 158th with her time of 22:08.60, while Gordon placed 225th at 23:05.20.

Anna O'Connor (Waterford, Ireland) and Annalee Misch (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower) were making their national championship debuts as members of the Green and Gold. O'Connor closed out her first season as a Warriors after transferring from Saint Leo by posting a time of 22:32.50 for 197th, with Misch rounding out the WSU scoring in 242nd at her mark of 23:48.90.

264 runners started the race and 260 saw the finish line in Joplin for the final cross country event of 2023.

Many on Wayne State's cross country roster will next look ahead to track and field season, which begins for WSU on Saturday, December 2 with the SVSU Holiday Open at 11 a.m. from University Center, Mich.

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Players Mentioned

Thailyia Christensen: 5' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Emily Gordon: 5' 7"; Junior

Reagan Justice: 5' 4"; Junior

Annalee Misch: 5' 6"; Junior

Katherine Ray: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Briana Vojinov: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Anna O'Connor: 5' 6"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Thailyia Christensen
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Emily Gordon
: 5' 7"; Junior

Reagan Justice
: 5' 4"; Junior

Annalee Misch
: 5' 6"; Junior

Katherine Ray
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Briana Vojinov
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Anna O'Connor
: 5' 6"; Senior