Women’s Cross Country Team competes at national level
Despite the challenges of being a first-year team, the Women’s Cross Country Team at Gadsden State Community College qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Cross Country Meet held Nov. 12, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla.
“I’m proud of the girls’ team for coming to the scene as a first-year team and consistently performing well enough to maintain a Top 25 ranking on the NJCAA Coaches Poll,” said Roseanne Green, head coach. “This is a feather in our hat and will propel our recruiting for new signees.”
At the national competition, the team finished 24th. Other Alabama community college cross country teams competing at the national level were Wallace State at fifth place, Calhoun at 12th place and Marion Military Institute at 23rd. Lansing Community College in Michigan won the NJCAA National Championship for the second year in a row.
The Cardinals Cross Country Team qualified for the national meet after finishing fourth at the Alabama Community College Conference Region 22 Meet on Oct. 28 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford. The women’s team’s average time was 23:47. They improved to 23:42 at the national meet.
Jordan Clark had the fastest time among the Lady Cardinals with a 21:48.7, which beat her time of 22:01.5 at the regional meet. Clark, a graduate of Arab High School and a freshman at Gadsden State, finished 83rd out of 218 runners. She was the only Gadsden State runner to end in the Top 100.
Two members of the men’s team qualified to compete at the national meet as individuals. Ashton Vann ran the 8000-meter race with a time of 30:57. He finished 148 out of 226 runners. Fellow freshman teammate Javier Soto finished at 181 with a time of 32:05. Vann is from Ashville and Soto is from Fort Payne.
Overall, Green is pleased with this season’s results for both the men’s and women’s teams.
“My goals for both teams were to be competitive in our conference and build a culture of dedication and success,” she said. “These goals have been met and exceeded so I’m a proud coach to say the least."