2021 NAIA Cross Country All-America

NEW ORLEANS – All-America honors for the 2021 NAIA Cross Country season were announced on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Athletes from member institutions earned All-America recognition by finishing among the top-40 athletes in their gender’s respective races this past weekend at the 2021 NAIA Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Washington.

Milligan (Tenn.) swept the team titles, becoming just the third institution in 42 years to accomplish the feat. Unlike the other sweeps, however, the Buffaloes enjoyed first-time moments at the top of both podiums.

Fittingly, double-champion Milligan led the parade of All-America honors with a combined total of seven – a gender-high four on the men’s side along with three women as the Buffaloes were the only program with three top-20 finishers in either race – and they did it twice.

The Buff men were led by Aaron Jones (11^th), Nathan Baker (14^th) and Eli Cramer (20^th), with Will Stockley (27^th) not far behind to also claim All-American distinction. Individual champion Alyssa Bearzi led Milligan’s women with Lemi Wutz (fifth) and Avery DeWolf (11^th) nearly making it three in the top-10.

St. Francis (Ill.) earned the most women’s All-America honors with four as Sabrina Baftiri (17^th), Daly Galloway (21^st), Katherine Bakken (28^th) and Laisha Corona (30^th) provided the Fighting Saints with the race’s only such collection of top-30 finishers.

Three additional programs earned three All-America honors, with Taylor (Ind.) achieving the distinction in both the men’s and women’s races after finishing 11^th and fourth, respectively. The Saint Mary (Kan.) men, runner-up to Milligan, also collected three All-American honors.

Twenty-five different men’s programs had at least one All-America athlete, compared to 24 women’s programs.  

NAIA Cross Country
2021 USTFCCCA All-Americans