This past weekend the UST men and women's cross country team sent 5 individuals to the NAIA National Championships meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Four out of the five national qualifiers from UST were Freshman runners. The men raced the 8km distance while the women competed at the 5k distance. With temperatures in the low 30's and a wind chill of low 20's, the men and women from the south competed in conditions dissimilar to anything seen all year.

The men were led by frontrunner Alex De La Maza, who placed 152nd overall (18th best freshmen) and ran his best 8km of all time in 26:04. Following De La Maza was Michael Skinner who placed 273rd with his second-best time ever of 27:09. Juan Gonzales was the third runner to cross the line for St. Thomas with a 292nd place finish in 27:35, 14 sec personal best.

The Lady Celts were led by Venice Macawilli who placed 267th overall and ran 20:08 for the 5k course. Following Macawili was teammate Alexandria Gonzales who placed 317th and ran her second best 5k of the season in 21:27.

The men and women stayed composed and did a great job running their best in an environment completely new to them. To have a couple of PR's in the cold windy conditions means these men were running their best race at the most important time of the year. I am so proud of the hard work these men and women put in over the course of this year and I cannot wait to see how much better we will be in the future" says Coach Dohner.