SAINT LEO, Fla. — A historic cross country season was capped Saturday for the Stanislaus State women's team, as they earned the program's best-ever national championship finish at the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships held at the Abbey Golf Course.
 
The Stan State women placed 12th at the national championship with 447 points Saturday, far bettering the program's previous best finish of 20th in 2012. The Warriors were the first West Region team across the line, and the first California Collegiate Athletic Association team across the line, showing their continued rise through the end of the season that brought them their first-ever CCAA title in October and a best-ever finish at the West Regional meet (second) on Nov. 6.
 
Kaela Dishion – the already well-decorated front-runner for the warriors – led the team again with a 48th-place finish. She ran the 6-kilometer course in 21 minutes, 35.4 seconds. She was the second West Region individual to finish, behind Academy of Art's Natalia Novak.
 
Sabrina Garcia (88th) and Nancy Juarez (90th) gave the Warriors three finishers among the top-100. Garcia finished in 22:03.4, and Juarez was right behind her in 22:05.9. Iris Carrillo just missed being among the top-100, finishing 122nd in 22:27.5.
 
Underclassmen Grace Kenny (175th, 23:09.6) and Katarina Borchin (194th, 23:24.7) were the Warriors' No. 5 and No. 6 runners, respectively, on Saturday.
 
"Today, we felt the toll of the COVID lockdown," said Stanislaus State head coach Darren Holman. "We felt the 18 months of no contact with our teammates. We ran well against teams that trained as a team throughout the pandemic. Even with all the adversity we had to overcome, we had a great year. I am so proud of both the men's and women's teams."
 
Adams State (Colo.) won its 19th team championship with 59 points, ahead of runner-up Grand Valley State's (Mich.) 79 points. GVSU's Hannah Becker won the individual title in 20:22.0.