The NCAA News - News and Features

December 1, 1997

Adams State women at six championships and counting

Many coaches figured that no team ever would match Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's 10 consecutive team titles in the Division II Women's Cross Country Championships.

Those coaches now are having doubts.

Claiming four of the top eight individual places, Adams State took another step toward matching that feat by claiming its sixth consecutive title November 22 at Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Indians, who have won every Division II championship since Adams State joined the NCAA in 1992, registered a score of 37 points to easily outdistance runner-up Lewis, which totaled 103 points.

Western State (106 points) finished third, while Edinboro (110) and Northwest Missouri State (151) each recorded best-ever finishes to round out the top five.

Individually, Lewis claimed the top three places, led by individual champion Kasia Arient.

Adams State actually has won seven consecutive championships -- the Indians claimed the NAIA team title in 1991.

This year's victors were led by senior Janelle Olson, who garnered fourth-place individual honors with a time of 17:46.9.

Juniors Kim Bugg and Denise Summers and senior Sarah Parkey finished Nos. 5 through 8 individually, while junior Stephanie Milam rounded out the Indians' scoring by placing 13th.

Arient, the first Lewis competitor to win the individual title, covered the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 31.2 seconds.

Malgorzata Biela and Magdalena Paszta kept pace with Arient, finishing second and third, respectively.

The 1-2-3 finish by the Flyers is the first time in NCAA women's cross country that a team has claimed the first three places in a championships race. Lewis finished with 103 points.

Adams State's men's claimed the first five individual places at the 1992 Division II championships.