COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Ave Maria Cross Country team sent a program record five runners to the NAIA National Championships Friday morning which were held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri. Sofia Torres and Madison Thomas represent the Gyrenes on the women's side while Michael Long, Samuel Paga and Chris Hermann ran in the men's race.

Torres was the highest placing Gyrene in the day, running the 6000 meter course in 23:09.3. It was the sophomore's second trip to the National Championships, and she posted a personal best for a 6k race.

Thomas was just three seconds behind Torres with a time of 23:12.4, which is a PR for her as well. It was her first trip to the National Championships after joining the Gyrenes last season a sophomore transfer from Florida Southern.

There was a huge field Friday with 326 runners in the Women's race. Both Torres and Thomas finished in the top half of the racers at 144^th and 149^th respectively.

Jaynie Halterman of Taylor (Ind.) won the individual title, finishing the race with a time of 20:24.7. The Master's (Calif.) took home the team championship, edging out Taylor by one point.

On the men's side, Long was the top finisher for Ave Maria, completing the 8000 meter course in 25:55.6. It was the first National Championship appearance in cross country for the sophomore and his second national championship appearance overall, winning the individual title in the 800 meter race in Track and Field back in May.

Paga was right behind him, clocking in at 26:02.9. This was his second appearance in the national championships, and he bested his time from last year by a minute and 51 seconds. Paga posted the best split of all the Gyrene runners, running the second thousand meters in 3:07.7.

Hermann, like Long, was competing in his first ever national championship and rounded out the Gyrenes with a time a of 26:17.0. All three Gyrenes finished within 22 seconds of each other and 35 places in the race.

Like on the women's side, 326 runners competed in the men's race. Long finished 210^th, with Paga at 226^th and Hermann at 245^th.

Evert Silva from Oklahoma City won the individual title with a time of 23:14. The College of Idaho took home the team championship with three runners finishing in the top 11, the most of any of the schools.

The National Championship ends another successful season for the Gyrenes that saw the men's team win the Ave Maria Invitational. The highlight of the season was Long, Paga and Hermann each breaking the school record for an 8k course, all finishing under 26 minutes, in the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge. 2024 also saw both the men and women place second in the Sun Conference Championships for the second year in row. Ave Maria also swept the Champions of Character Awards there, with Hermann winning the men's side and Emma Perreault winning the women's side.