The Friends University Cross Country teams competed in the 56^th annual NAIA men's and 32^nd annual women's cross country national championships that took place Saturday, November 19^th, at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington. They came away with history making performances. The women placed fifth as a team and the men finished 16^th as a team. Their combined point total earned them 3^rd place in the national and a spot on the podium.

Senior Jordan Arnold became the first female all American in cross country school history with a ninth place finish in a time of 17:57. This is Arnold's third trip to nationals as a Falcon. Her best prior finish was 32^nd place in 2009.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Belisle was the next Falcon to cross the finish line in 36^th place with a time of 18:39, just missing the top 30 all American honor. Senior Karissa Cominator also just missed being all American, placing 39^th in 18:41. This was Cominator's third trip to nationals as a Falcons and her previous best finish was 120^th. Senior Cecilia Burley placed 54^th for the Falcons in 18:55 and sophomore Connie Collins rounded out their team scoring with a 119^th place finish in 19:36.

Leading the way for the men was senior Javier Ceja as he placed 28^th in 24:48 and earned his second straight all American honors. After sitting out last year's cross country season and missing most of the season this year with illness, senior Dan Neidlinger came away with his best national race of his career, placing 78^th in a personal best time of 25:33. Neidlinger has run at nationals four times and this was his best finish by 68 places. Sophomore Cameron Sprague also ran a personal best time of 25:39 and placed 88^th, 60 spots better than he placed last year. Freshman Brock Nooney placed 136^th in 26:04, his second best race of the season. Senior Geovanni Popoca rounded out the team scoring with a 218^th place finish in 26:44. Sophomore Tim Wescott had his best race of the season, running 26:51.

"I was very happy with how the season went and with how it ended, with both programs up on the podium as the third best combined program in the nation," Coach Brad Peterson said. "Our women's team had an outstanding race and were just 20 points away from third. Jordan Arnold ran the race of her life and is one of the best runners and competitors I have ever been around. She has stuck with it through a lot of hardships and it paid off today. I was so happy that she and Karissa Cominator went out on top with their best races after everything they have done for our program. They are tremendous runners but more importantly great people. Our men's team ran well for the most part. Just a couple guys had off races and that was the difference between us finishing top 5 and where we actually finished. I am especially proud of Dan Neidlinger for fighting back from illness to help the team out so greatly. He and Matt Ditzler were the cornerstones of this program and we would never have been here without them."