NAIA Championships: Oklahoma City, Northwest Christian Victorious

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 2015 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Cross Country Championships were held this past Saturday at McAlpine Creek Park.

The Oklahoma City men and the Northwest Christian women rose to the challenge and captured the national titles of their respective genders.

The following are parts of the tremendous recaps the NAIA published about the event.

Men’s Recap: "Three-Peat For The Stars"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – (Individual / Team Results) 326 runners took on the challenge of McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, N.C. Oklahoma City was up to the challenge, as the Stars won the 60th Annual NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships on Saturday, with a team score of 78 points.

Oklahoma City becomes the seventh team to at-least three championships in a row. Arya Bahreini led the Stars with a third-place finish, ending with a time of 24:15.1. Joining Bahreini, was teammate David Mountford, who finished fifth with a time of 24:36.0. Both runners finished in the top 20 at last year’s championships.

Collectively, the Stars ran a team time of 2:24.54, en route to a 90 point win over St. Mary (Kan.), who finished with in second with a total time of 2:07.31 seconds.

Click here to read the rest of the recap.

Women’s Recap: "Beacons Rise to the Top"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – (Individual / Team Results) Northwest Christian (Ore.) takes home its first-ever national championships. The Beacons finished with a team score of 98 points. 

Northwest Christian was led four top-15 finishers. Alyssa Harmon finished second overall with a time of 17:24.4. Sierra Brown finished fourth with a time of 17:33.5, while Michelle Fletcher (10th, 17:51.6), Rosa Schmidt (13th, 17:54.6) and Macie Gale (90th, 18:58.2) rounded out the five scoring spots for the Beacons. Northwest Christian becomes the 17th school to win a team championship. 

The Beacons finished with a team time of 89:42.3 and 20 points ahead of runner-up British Columbia who accumulated a total time of 91:04.6.

Click here to read the rest of the recap.