Women's Cross Country: Season-in-Review

UNIVERSITY PARK, IL—The 2019 Governors State women's cross country season marked a new start for the five-year-old program as seven newcomers filled the team's roster—five freshmen, a junior college transfer and a graduate student (who previously played another sport at GSU).

The Jaguars scored in six of eight meets and concluded their season with a 14th-place finish at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. Along the way, GSU made its debut at three races—the Warrior Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran, the Fighting Bee Invitational in Iowa and the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede, which drew 23 teams. Cross country cognoscente Kevin Kredens added a second 6K race to the team's schedule, a distance that in the past was generally contested once a year.

The Jaguars' top finish occurred at the Skyhawk Invitational, a fourth-place finish fueled by a school-record score of 100 points. Over the course of the season, GSU also competed against five nationally ranked teams: No. 5 St. Francis (NAIA), No. 10 Chicago (NCAA Division III), No. 11 Olivet Nazarene (NAIA), No. 21 Dordt (NAIA) and No. 25 Judson (NAIA).

"We had a couple of meets, like the Warrior Invitational and the Stampede, where our ladies finished ahead of a good number of runners, something that had not happened much the past few years and I think that said a lot about our group," said Kredens. "I'm also very proud that all our runners finished on a hot day at the Midwest Intercollegiate, there were some teams that had runners drop out because of the heat (which hit 86 degrees)."

With everyone starting with a clean slate, first-year Avery Fountain stepped up as a key performer, leading her teammates across the finish line four times. Fountain clocked 23:54.8 in the season-opening 5K meet, a season-best time that placed her among the four-fastest runners in program history. Fountain took her two-sport status to a new level on October 12 when she competed in a morning race in Iowa, then made it back to campus in time to play an evening soccer game, becoming the first GSU student-athlete to compete for two teams in the same day.

"Avery was primarily a soccer athlete but she is an essential part of the team and hopefully will be available for more meets next year," said Kredens.

Just as important were the contributions of Elizabeth Rios, an AIM HIGH grant recipient who served as team captain and was named the team's Most Valuable Runner. Rios recorded the sixth-best time ever at the 6K distance with a 31:40.20 showing at the Warrior Invitational. She was the team's top runner at three races and produced the highest individual finish (24th-place) of the season.

"No one on this team ran with more heart, desire, energy and passion than Liz. She became a smart runner who studied the courses and strategies and developed a true love for the sport," stated Kredens.

GSU's No. 3 runner didn't make her debut until Week Six as she recovered from a serious injury. Bailey Honn proceeded to turn in three consecutive sub-27-minute efforts and posted the team's best time at the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede. At season's end she was presented with the Tough as Nails Award.

First-year Megan Jackson received the team's Leadership Award after battling through injury to appear in four races. Diamond Jones joined Rios as the new record-holders for race appearances in a season (7) and her presence was missed when illness sidelined her for the conference meet. Converted high school sprinter Peachshaiya Bailey competed in six races as did ex-volleyball player Milica Maras, who saw a 5-minute and 13-second improvement in her times over the course of the season. Maras was also named to the CCAC All-Academic Team.

"We had some good recruits this year and next season looks promising," said Kredens, who finished his fifth season as head coach. "All our runners improved their times during the season and I think that showed their dedication."