CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa- The Ave Maria University cross country team saw two of its runners compete in the NAIA Cross Country National Championships on Friday morning, marking the fifth consecutive appearance for the AMU cross country program at the national level. Junior Mary Goetz and freshman Joseph Perreault ran at the Seminole Valley Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids, running with and against the NAIA's best distance runners.

Mary Goetz was making her third appearance at the National Championships, giving the junior three of Ave Maria's five national appearances for the women's program. The Desoto, Kansas native finished near the middle of the field, crossing the finish line in 19:52.81. It was Goetz's 13th sub-20 minute time in her collegiate career, which accounts for 13 of the 29 such times in school history. Goetz also finished third among runners from The Sun Conference.

The individual national champion was Huntington's Emma Wilson, who cruised to the national title by more than 35 seconds, running the course in 17:02.86. The University of St. Francis from Ilinois captured the team national championship, powered by three of the top 20 overall finishers. St. Francis won the national title with 111 team points, winning by 35 points over the national runner-up from the College of Idaho.

Joseph Perreault made his first appearance at the National Championships, and completed the course in the Hawkeye State in 28:14.34. By qualifying for the national championship race, Perreault became just the second Ave Maria runner to compete at the national level, joining four-year qualifier Gabriel Hogan (2016-19). The freshman finished third among the at-large qualifiers from The Sun Conference.

Oklahoma City's Zouhair Talbi won the national championship individually, crossing the finish line just under 20 seconds before teammate Shimales Abebe. Despite logging three of the event's top four finishers, Oklahoma City finished in fourth place, as the Trojans from Taylor University won the team title by placing all five of their scoring runners in the top 25.

Ave Maria's cross country team concludes their season in the NAIA National Championships for the fifth straight season, with multiple runners qualifying for the championship event for the third straight year. The wait until the 2021 season for the Gyrenes will be much shorter this year, with the 2020 championships moved to spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 season is scheduled to begin in little more than four months, with the Gyrenes again expected to be in contention in The Sun Conference.