CROSS COUNTRY

Running on the national stage for the third time in her Forester career, senior Aspen Dirr saved her best for last at the 2018 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Championships at Seminole Valley XC Course in Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Friday morning.

Dirr shaved 57 seconds off of her PR to clock in at 17:55 to finish 19th overall out of 339 runners. Not only did she break the program record, held by assistant coach Lauren Johnson, but she also earned her first NAIA All-American badge with today’s performance.

Dirr’s 19th place finish far exceeded her 65th seeding and is the second highest finish at NAIA nationals in the HU women’s cross country record books. She is also just the third Forester in program history to earn All-American honors.

The Hudson native, competing as one of 93 individual qualifiers, ran a well-executed race to stay in the top 30 the entire 5K. She was the second Crossroads League runner to cross the line behind Taylor’s Sarah Harden.

“I can’t say enough about Aspen’s race execution,” said Coach Nick Johnson. “She put herself in a great spot right away. Our philosophy is to train all season for the championship event.

“Aspen bought into what we were doing and definitely turned in a championship performance. It’s even more impressive knowing she is just seven months post-surgery and came into the season having not been able to compete or train much since last fall.”

Oregon Teck claimed the women’s title with 126 points to beat out Madonna by eight points. Rounding out the top five teams included Taylor (134), Southern Oregon (192) and SCAD Atlanta (241). Anna Shields of Point Park finished in 17:15.9 to earn the individual title.