Rio women capture RSC Championship; Shular named RSC Newcomer of the Year

For the first time since 2016, the University of Rio Grande women's cross-country team can call themselves "champions.”

The RedStorm had three of the top five individual finishers to fuel their team championship at Saturday morning's River States Conference Championship on the Bob Willey Course.

Senior Amarissa Kerns (Lancaster) finished in a time of 22:32 to take first place and earn RSC Runner of the Year honors, while sophomore Laura Hamm (South Point) took fourth place in a time of 22:54 and freshman Brandy Shular (Winchester) was fifth in a time of 22:55.

Shular was named the RSC Newcomer of the Year, which is awarded to the meet's top freshman or transfer. Shular is a graduate of Eastern (Brown) HS.

The trio earned All-RSC First Team recognition based on their finish.

"Amarissa defeated several runners this year that she hadn't been able to get past before, said Rio Grande head coach Matt Paxton, who was named the league's Coach of the Year. "Laura's always been a very solid middle distance runner as a national qualifier last year. She's proving to be a more rounded cross country athlete and has grown as a leader to the young freshman that we brought in over the summer. Brandy is one of those freshmen. She came to us undertrained and inexperienced in a team environment, but responded over the second half of the year by running some of the Top 10 times that we've had in the history of our school and today she had her best race of the season."

As a team, Rio Grande won the championship with 41 points. Shawnee State finished as the runner-up with 47 points, while Indiana University East was third with 58 points.

By virtue of the win, the 23rd-ranked RedStorm will advance to the 46th Annual NAIA National Championship, which is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21, at 8:30 a.m., at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

"This year marked a turning point for our women's program," Paxton said. "In addition to winning their first conference championship, the ladies also broke school records for average time and individual school records. Along the way, this group of young women came from only having enough to fill the team last year to being able to field a truly 11- or 12-deep roster of the best athletes in the conference."

Also representing Rio in the race was senior Jayden Roach (Baltimore), who finished 15th in the 90-runner field at 24:08; freshman Marley Kreischer (Oak Hill), whose time of 24:13 was good enough for 16th place; senior Mackenzie McCarthy (Akron), who was 20th after crossing in 24:26; freshman Camryn Huck (Beverly), who was 22nd in a time of 24:36; freshman Aylah Humphreys (Leesburg — a Fairfield graduate), who was 28th with a mark of 25:26; freshman Grace Heffernan (Bidwell), who was 33rd with a time of 25:57; freshman Ava Rooker (Chillicothe), who placed 41st in 26:17; freshman Josie Hancock (Martins Ferry), who was 47th with a mark of 26:31; freshman Madison Lejzerowicz (Manchester), who crossed in 27:01 for 51st place; sophomore Rebecca Spohn (New Concord), who finished 57th in a time of 27:54; freshman Briana Nelson (Chillicothe), who was 63rd with an effort of 28:23; and freshman Delana Jenkins (Barnesville), who was 64th with a time of 28:25.

Roach, Kreischer and McCarthy all earned All-RSC Third Team honors.

"We were a minor favorite to win this, but Shawnee State came at us with everything they had in the first mile. At one time I believe they had five of the top 12 runners in the race. They were led by some experienced upperclassmen," Paxton said. "Our ladies kept their cool, though, and they responded by catching them from behind in the second half of the race and secured the victory within the last mile."

Per NAIA regulations, the top four runners not on the championship team earned individual qualification to the NAIA Championships. Olivia Cisco — a former Rio runner — and Jessica Elick from Shawnee State both advanced, as did IU East's duo of Emily Fleming and Kayci Hill.

"I couldn't be more proud of this group. The men and women sweeping the conference titles at home was truly something special, especially in races this close with this level of competition," Paxton said. "Our conference has gotten tremendously better in the last few years and today we ran extremely well. So did a lot of other teams. It wasn't a case of us relying on anyone else to fold. We brought our best game and we managed to persevere."

The RSC also announced the athletes recognized as their program's Champion of Character. Each team in the league is asked to nominate one athlete, who best represents the NAIA's Champions of Character program and its five core values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship.

Rio was represented on the list by Kreischer.