VANCOUVER, Wash.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams concluded the 2019 season on Friday afternoon, as two runners competed in the NAIA National Cross Country Championships. Senior Gabriel Hogan completed his AMU career in his fourth consecutive national championship race, while sophomore Mary Goetz ran in nationals for the second year in a row. 

Hogan finished the course at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in a time of 27:38.2, good for 243rd in the field. The senior finishes his career at Ave Maria in possession of 14 of the 15 fastest times in school history. The Oxford, Michigan native is also the only athlete in AMU history to compete at the national level in all four years of his Gyrene career.

The 2019 individual national champion was Oklahoma City's Mark Shaw, who crossed the finish line in 24:39.5 to claim victory by three and a half seconds. Shaw's individual victory, coupled with three of the top 12 overall finishers, buoyed Oklahoma City to the team title. Taylor and Lewis-Clark rounded out the top three.

Goetz placed in the top 100 for the second consecutive year, taking a 97th place finish in a time of 19:25.6. Through her first two seasons at Ave Maria, Goetz has posted eleven sub-20 minute teams in her career. Before her arrival on campus, the 20-minute mark had only been broken fourteen times in an eight-year period.

Huntington's Hannah Stoffel ran away with the individual championship, crossing the finish line more than 16 seconds before the runner-up, SCAD-Atlanta's Emily Kearney. With three top 20 finishers, Madonna won the team championship, with College of Idaho and SCAD Atlanta finishing out the podium. 

The Ave Maria cross country season ends in the national championships for the fourth consecutive year, as AMU finishes a successful cross country season.