NEWVILLE, Penn. – The Carleton College women's cross country program won the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships, the first NCAA women's team title in school history.
 
"I truly believe that this field was so strong that any team in the top 10 could podium, including us," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "Our first goal was to get back on the podium; that in itself would have been a success. We knew the top spot was also up for grabs and often being said on our team was 'Why not us?'"
 
While Carleton has accumulated numerous individual national titles in cross country, golf, swimming & diving, and track & field, this is the only the second NCAA team title in school history, joining the 1980 men's cross country program.
 
The women's cross country program has been knocking on the door for a while. The Knights finished fifth at Nationals in both 2017 and 2019, then took fourth place last fall, with that performance ranking as second-best ever team finish for a Carleton women's team at any NCAA Championships (see chart below). This year, the women's cross country team helped reset the standard for all Carleton teams—men's and women's—to chase.
 
The Knights entered the day listed at No. 2 in the latest USTFCCCA national rankings
 
"We're not usually the ones with a target on our back," said senior Mary Blanchard. "We see ourselves as the underdogs, but we have a lot of confidence in our training and our ability to be the toughest team out there on race day. For this race, we just tried to bring that confidence and that trust and run the race we know how to run."
 
The Knights posted a team score of 151 to edge No. 1-ranked NYU by three points. No. 5 University of Chicago was third at 156 points, and No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took fourth at 158 points. With only seven points separating the top four teams, this was the closest finish in NCAA D-III Women's Cross Country Championships history.
 
No. 3 SUNY-Geneseo took fifth place (205), while No. 8 Williams (245), No. 10 Lynchburg (257), No. 11 Emory (285), No. 15 Central (293), and No. 13 UW-La Crosse (347) rounded out the top 10.
 
"Every place counts at Nationals, and I held the truth of that fact front and center throughout the entire race," said senior Phoebe Ward. "I'd honestly never been in more pain in a race, ever, but it paid off when I crossed the line and watched the top 5 come through within the minute."
 
The Knights' scorers were separated by only 48.1 seconds, the tightest pack among the top-7 teams.
 
There were times early in the race that a podium (top-four) finish might be in doubt. Carleton was fourth after the first 1,000 meters of the 6-kilometer race, 54 points behind No. 3 SUNY-Geneseo. By the two-mile mark, NYU had moved in front, followed by Chicago and C-M-S with Carleton 42 points behind the first-place Violets but only two points in front of SUNY-Geneseo.
 
After starting the race on flat, open terrain, the teams headed into the woods for the twisty and very hilly portion of the race. The order of the top six teams remained unchanged after this section. At the 5-kilometer mark, NYU was in first and now led the Knights by 30 points with Chicago and C-M-S in between.
 
While the hills seemed to take a lot out of many of the competitors, the Knights seemed energized.
 
"Our home course, where we did multiple workouts and raced on twice this season, is very hilly," noted senior Helen Cross. "When we saw the Nationals course we said, 'This isn't so bad; we can do this!'"
 
Proving that it is not how you start, it is how you finish, Carleton was the only one of the top-seven teams to move up more than 10 points over the final 1,000 meters of the race. The Knights improved 23 points, while NYU lost 10 points to give Carleton the three-point margin of victory.
 
"This team has proven to be tough the last kilometer and once again, every one of them demonstrated they were willing to put it out there for their team," said Ricks.
 
Hannah Preisser earned her second All-America Award in as many years as she finished 14th with a time of 21:22.5. She jumped six crucial spots over the final 1,000 meters.
 
"All season, Hannah has been feeling the pressure of last year's top-15 finish," said assistant coach Laura Albares. "To be in the top-15 two years in a row is not common, and it takes more than just incredible talent. It takes mental toughness. Today, she proved how mentally how tough of a racer she is."
 
Only three runners finished in the top-15 in both 2022 and 2023. Preisser, Sara Stephenson of Johns Hopkins, and individual champion Fiona Smith of Saint Benedict.
 
After running as Carleton's fifth scorer at last year's national championships, Ward collected her first All-America honor by placing 16th with a time of 21:24.3.
 
"Donna and Laura (Albares') training has made me a stronger athlete every year, and it's an honor to be running with such kind, strong, and fast women everyday," Ward said. "Of course, I'm thrilled to be an All-American, but even if I hadn't gotten that medal, I would've been proud of our perfect season and how far we've come since freshman year."
 
Preisser and Ward become the fifth pair of Knight teammates to earn All-America honors in the same year, joining Shelley Scherer and Anna Prineas in 1987, Simone Childs-Walker and Laura Roach in 2009, Clara Mayfield and Amanda Mosborg in 2019, and Manfield and Preisser last year (see chart below).
 
"As deserving as she was of her individual All-American honor, Phoebe's contribution to the team's success went way beyond her low score," noted Albares. "She has pulled the team and challenged them to be braver and run out of their comfort zone. This course demanded that we run that way today. I would definitely credit Phoebe for preparing the team for this opportunity."
 
"Going into this race, while I was certainly nervous and also a bit excited, I also just felt a lot of appreciation," Preisser said. "Phoebe expressed on the starting line how thankful she was to have run with us and be here with us, and I very much shared that sentiment."
 
Cross, who did not race the NCAA North Region Championships last weekend, returned to the lineup and sat 80th after the first kilometer before moving up steadily as the race progressed. She jumped 16 spots by the 2-mile mark and improved another 15 spots in the woods. She made another eight-spot improvement over the final 1,000 meters and finished 41st overall with a time of 21:56.9.
 
"It was a very exciting race and felt like a battle from start to finish," said Cross. "I knew that every single point would determine if we made the podium so when I crossed the finish line, I knew that I'd given it everything that I had."
 
"My heart goes out to Helen for finishing in the most dreaded position in the whole race," Albares said, "as 41st is the first non-All American finisher. She left it all out there. Her race was exactly what we needed to come out ahead of three other teams with three All-Americans."
 
Aliya Larsen was in 77th place early in the race but like her teammates moved up after settling in. She advanced 10 spots by the two-mile mark and boosted her ranking on the leaderboard 21 more spots by the 5-kilometer split. She crossed the line in 46th place with a time of 21:59.3.
 
"Over the course of the season, Aliya has closed the gap between her and our top-4 in workouts and races," Albares said. "She has not missed a beat as the pressure of the big meets has mounted, and we have needed her to come out on top."
 
Sophie McManus got off to a quick start and ran in 47th place after the first kilometer. She dropped back to 88th by the time she left the woods, but found another gear at the end of the race, vaulting an eye-popping 26 spots over the final 1,000-meters, the second-largest late-race surge in the 292-runner field. She crossed the line in 62nd place with time of 22:10.6, ultimately giving Carleton the three-point victory.
 
"Sophie executed her race structure perfectly by getting off the line in good position, running the hills efficiently, and racing for every point in the last kilometer," Albares said. "She made up 26 of the 31 points we needed for the win."
 
"The start of a national championship is unlike anything else I've ever experienced, McManus said. "It took all of my concentration to hold my position and stay on my feet. As we settled into the race, I was feeling far from my best, but I knew my team needed me. That gave me the extra push over the hills.
 
"Our coaches emphasized before the race that in this tight team race, any runner we passed could mean the difference between winning and losing, so I adopted that attitude and gave it everything I had over the final kilometer. Coming into the finish, I knew I was sprinting as hard as I possibly could and giving everything I had for my team. I could only hope it would be enough."
 
Blanchard and Libby Rowland both raced at Nationals for the third consecutive year. This time they were the sixth and seventh runners across the line for Carleton as they finished 115th and 221st, respectively, with times of 22:39.6 and 23:15.1.
 
"Mary's leadership throughout the season has been key to our success," noted Albares. "She has a visible confidence that is truly infectious for our team. It was because of Mary and her regional finish that our team was able to come to the meet as North Region Champions with a belief that we were the best team our program has ever had.
 
"Libby has a grounding presence for this team in high-pressure situations and her quiet wisdom and humor is always perfectly timed. I know Libby's leadership is going to be key to building on what will be a young team next year."
 
After finishing the race, the Knights and the other top teams had to wait for the final results to be tabulated and released. When the scoreboard finally revealed Carleton had pulled it out, the celebration was on.
 
"We were all so overcome with emotion when we saw we won," explained Larsen. "It was such an incredible achievement, and we all worked so hard to make it happen."
 
"Pure joy. I don't even know how to describe it," said Ward. "We'd known it was a possibility all season, but actually making it happen is a whole different ballgame."
 
"Everyone on this team, including all our teammates back home and our wonderful coaches Donna and Laura, have put so much into making this a reality," said Preisser. "It was so amazing to see our efforts pay off this way."
 
"A lot of people stepped up this season to fill the gap (that three-time All-American Clara Mayfield left when she graduated), and we all knew from the first weeks of practice that we had all grown so much and were ready to make something special happen this season," Rowland said. "It's crazy to see that over the course of a couple years, the team has gone from a goal of 'Let's try to beat our ranking' to 'Let's go for the podium' to 'Let's win a national championship!' Doing it with many of the same core people as in the past two years makes it even more special."
 
As it turns out, the Knights did not lose to a Division III opponent all season. They took fourth at the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest, but the top three teams that day were NCAA D-I programs. Carleton did not enter a scoring contingent at its next race—the River Town Twilight—but had the individual champion that evening. The Knights won three more races, then captured the crown at the MIAC Championships and the NCAA North Regionals before making school history on the six-kilometer course at Big Spring High School in rural Pennsylvania.
 
"There is nothing you can do during the regular season to replicate this type of race," said Albares, "so we definitely had an advantage with most of our athletes having been in two previous national championships. It certainly helped Aliya that she was an alternate last year and got a feel for the environment and to see how race looks like from the sidelines."
 
Although she did not race this time, first-year Nora Daley got her first glimpse of the intensity of Nationals while serving as the alternate for Carleton at this meet.
 
"Nora was perfect for the job of alternate," said Albares. "She was unphased by task of being ready to go at a moment's notice. She was a fantastic cheerleader and having the experience of preparing for and experiencing the meet this year will most certainly benefit the future of this team."
 
"Every athlete on this team was instrumental in the overall success and development of each other," said Ricks. "They believe in each other and trusted the training. They have a passion for running and being a part of a strong group of women. We accomplished what we did today because every athlete—whether they were racing or not—mattered and made a difference and impacted our team in a positive way."
 
Ricks becomes only the third woman to lead her team to the team title at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Deb Vercauteren led her UW-Oshkosh squad to four titles between 1987-1996 and Nancy Meyer guided Calvin to back-to-back championships in 1998 and 1999.
 
"I am so happy for Donna," said Blanchard. "She is a great coach and has done great work for so long. She really deserved this championship."
 
"There are many moving pieces as all coaches know that lead to the overall success of a team," Ricks said. "Academics play a large role at Carleton, and we are always striving for balance and team cohesiveness. Having all of the athletes healthy and prepared at the same time is instrumental to the overall success. Having an assistant coach such as Laura to collaborate with has been key. I'm really proud of our women's coaching staff."
 
Not only did the MIAC see one of its program's crowned the team champion, it was also responsible for the individual winner. Smith earned top honors with her winning time of 19:54.1, becoming the first NCAA DIII female athlete to go sub-20 minutes at the NCAA Championships. She posted a 63-second margin of victory.
 

Carleton Women's Cross Country All-Americans

1981   --   Terry Jensen (22nd place) --  AIAW All-American
1987   --   Shelley Scherer (1st place)
1987   --   Anna Prineas (7th place)
1988   --   Anna Prineas (1st place)
1989   --   Elizabeth Carpino (13th place)
2004   --   Cassie Funke (22nd place)
2009   --   Simone Childs-Walker (11th place)
2009   --   Laura Roach (25th place)
2014   --   Ruth Steinke (4th place)
2015   --   Ruth Steinke (5th place)
2017   --   Meg Mathison (6th place)
2019   --   Amanda Mosborg (13th place)
2019   --   Clara Mayfield (30th place)
2021   --   Clara Mayfield (10th place)
2022   --   Clara Mayfield (3rd place)
2022   --   Hannah Preisser (15th place)
2023   --   Hannah Preisser (14th place)
2023   --   Phoebe Ward (16th place)

Carleton Top-5 Team Finishes at the NCAA Championships

Place                 Team                              Year
1st place         --  Men's Cross Country           --  1980
1st place         --  Women's Cross Country         --  2023
3rd place         --  Men's Cross Country           --  1979
3rd place         --  Women's Indoor Track & Field  --  1988
4th place         --  Men's Cross Country           --  1975
4th place         --  Men's Cross Country           --  1976
4th place         --  Men's Cross Country           --  1981
4th place         --  Women's Cross Country         --  2022
5th place (tied)  --  Men's Tennis                  --  1985
5th place (tied)  --  Women's Tennis                --  1995
5th place (tied)  --  Women's Soccer                --  2008
5th place         --  Women's Cross Country         --  2017
5th place         --  Women's Cross Country         --  2019