HISTORY MAKERS!
ANKENY, Iowa—In the midst of a historic year came a historic day. As Faith Baptist Bible College celebrates its 100th year as an academic institution in 2021, the Faith Eagles cross country team made history of its own on Saturday, October 23, 2021, as the women's squad became the first in school history to qualify as a team for the NCCAA National Meet. And they did it on their own turf as Faith hosted this year's regional meet.
The team of Emily Anderson (Sheridan, Wyoming), Rachel Franklin (Brazil), Kierstan Fritz (Ankeny, Iowa), MaryAnn Hendrickson (Asotin, Washington), Laney Jones (Eldora, Iowa), and Kristin Yuan (Naperville, Illinois) had an amazing season and will represent Faith well at the NCCAA National Meet in Joplin, Missouri, on Saturday, November 13, 2021.
Jones, Anderson, Fritz, and Yuan each qualified for the National Meet individually as well. Fritz and Yuan were not able to run at most events this season due to an overlap with the women's soccer season schedule, but they sacrificed their time and legs to run the last two weekends to help the team make history.
"We had PR's across the board, mostly," said Coach Ryan Long. "Everyone ran great. God provided the best weather of the weekend for us. It feels amazing (to accomplish the historic feat). I love this team. All of them are great people."
The team also had four first-team all-region performers who were announced on Saturday: Ethan Wooten and Josiah Brown for the men's team; Kierstan Fritz and Kristin Yuan for the women's team.