RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – East Central placed its three runners inside the top five as the Tigers won the program's third Great American Conference Women's Cross Country Championship title - and first since 2016 - on Saturday in Russellville, Arkansas. The Tigers finished 17 points ahead of last year’s champion, Ouachita Baptist. Oklahoma Baptist's Sophia Strange repeated as the individual champion.
Naomy Limatukei, Aurelia Jepkorir andl Sheilah Cheruiyot placed second, third and fourth respectively to pace the Tigers. Abigael Kemboi added an 11th-place showing and Sharon Jesang crossed in 25th to account for the five scoring Tigers. Head Coach Steve Sawyer earned his third Coach of the Year award.
GAC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS | 2023 ALL-GAC TEAMS
Ouachita Baptist’s Macie Cash and Mackenzie Davis finished in fifth and sixth in leading the Tigers to the second-place result. Allison Hylkema, Lucy Holden and Izzi Breaux gave Ouachita three additional top-20 performers.
The hosting Golden Suns took third. Audrey Hill paced the team by taking 10th. Five from Tech - Ashlynn Mays, Libby Booth, Kaelyn Melton, Felicity West and Mandy Sykora placed inside the top 20.
Strange became the third women’s runner in league history to capture multiple individual titles. Her winning time of 17:33.8 ranks as the fifth-fastest time in meet history and her 24.4-second margin of victory represents the widest since 2014. Mekenzie Connell took eighth in a time of 18:20.9 to land the league’s Freshman of the Year accolade. She became the fifth Freshman of the Year in program history, joining Strange, Jana le Roux, Emma Downing and Emily Sechrist.
Southeastern Oklahoma State finished sixth, followed by Southern Arkansas, Southern Nazarene, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Henderson State and Arkansas-Monticello.
The top 20 runners earned All-GAC distinction. Arkansas Tech led with six recognized, followed by five from Ouachita Baptist, four from East Central, three from Oklahoma Baptist and two from Harding.
The league also honored its top student athletes with its Elite and Distinguished Scholar Athlete awards, presented by Conway Regional Health System. Arkansas Tech’s Callie Beshore, Morganne Browning and Felicity West; Harding’s Kaia Bieker, Ashley Gray and Kylie Phillips; Ouachita Baptist’s Elise Knight and Taylor Koeth; East Central’s Madison Ham and Oklahoma Baptist’s Jade Robinson all received the Elite Scholar honor as both own perfect 4.00 grade-point averages.
Ouachita Baptist’s Rebecca Beard, Isabel Breaux, Macie Ann Cash, Emily Castilaw, Mackenzie Davis, Sydney Delgado, Sara Holmon, Avery Howard, Megan Monk, Emily Payne and Avery Womack; Oklahoma Baptist’s Kaylen King, Jadyn Pavlik and Zoe Weaver, Arkansas Tech’ Mandy Sykora, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Sarah Coblentz, Southern Arkansas’ Alyzah McGlasson and Southern Nazarene’s Elora Jones received the Distinguished Scholar award.