VANCOUVER, Wash. - In the most historic day in the history of the Goshen College cross country programs, both teams had their highest finishes to a season at the NAIA National Championships held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington. The women placed 15th in the NAIA, the men 16th, and Mercy Chebet was named an All-American for her 34th place finish overall.

"It was really tough," said Chebet after the hilly, three lap race. "We all know that nothing good comes easy so we fight until the end." Chebet, a junior, was in 128th place at the 1.3k mark but moved into the top 40 required to be an All-American by the 5k mark in the 6k race (3.73 miles). "The best thing was seeing my teammates around with me, the fans that were watching us and our coaches cheering us as well." Chebet's final time was 22:28.1 - a school record.

As a team, the Goshen women came into the meet ranked #20th in the NAIA but outperformed with their 15th place finish and beat two teams ranked in the top ten, #9 Montreat and #8 Concordia (Neb.). The Maple Leafs had the highest finish in the race among teams ranked #20 or lower. After the first lap was complete they were in 21st place, but moved up to 19th after the second lap and up four more spots to 15th by the end of the race.

Annika Alderfer Fisher placed 93rd of 331 and Naomi Ross Richer was in 95th. Abigael Murgor and Mia Wellington rounded out the scoring top five, coming in 71st and 72nd. Stephany Claudio was 203rd and Summer Cooper placed 232nd. This was the first time the women had ever made it to the national championships as a team.

The men finished 16th overall, also the highest in program history after recently placing 27th in the 2014 national championship, 20th in 2019, 22nd in 2020, 24th in 2021 and 22nd in 2022. Mathew Keitany was the top finisher for the Leafs in 58th place and a time of 25:52.8 in the 8k race (4.97 miles). Drew Hogan was next for GC in 107th of 328, running most of the race without a right shoe after it had fallen off. Nelson Kemboi placed 117th, Jackson Steinmetz came in at 145th and Edwin Kimutai came in 160th. Goshen's sixth and seventh finishers were Oregon native Jacob Friesen in 215th and Anthony Roberts in 221st.

Goshen was in the 25th spot two laps in to their four lap race. However they moved up nine spots by the end. Keitany was in 102nd at the halfway mark and moved up to 58th.

The national championships mark the conclusion of a historic year for the cross country programs. The teams had their highest ever rankings with the men placing 11th and the women as high as 12th. Keitany and Chebet had All-Conference performances at the league meet as the men placed third and the women fifth in the Crossroads League. Chebet set the school record time in the 6k at that meet before beating it in Vancouver. While in the Pacific Northwest, the team toured Forest Grove, visited Pre's Rock, ran on Pre's Trail, learned about Hayward Field, explored the Nike headquarters and shopped in the company store and took some laps arounf the Michael Johnson track.

The College of Idaho Yotes claimed the women's national championship and Huntington's Addy Wiley was the individual champion. Milligan won their second national championship on the men's side by five points over St. Mary (Kan.). It was only the second race in NAIA history that has finished within ten points. Jackson Wilson from Rocky Mountain (Mont.) had a strong finish to capture the men's individual title.

The indoor track and field season starts on Friday, December 1 at Notre Dame for the Blue and Gold Invitational.