2021 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championship
Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. ET (5:30 a.m. PT)
St. Leo, Fla. – The Abbey Course
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Continuing a historic postseason that has already seen them earn the program's first Pacific West Conference Championship and post their best team finish to date (fourth) at NCAA Division II Regionals, No. 23 Academy of Art women's cross country will make its team debut at NCAA DII Nationals this weekend.

THE TEAM
Leading the way, senior Natalia Novak's final collegiate cross country season has been simply tremendous. On Oct. 23, Novak captured first place at the PacWest Conference Championship to hoist the third individual title in program history and was named USTFCCCA NCAA DII National Athlete of the Week for her efforts. After being named PacWest Runner of the Year, the Communications & Media Technologies major posted the program's highest individual finish at NCAA DII Regionals, claiming third for All-Region Team honors with her best 6k time to date (21:27.1).

Carrying NCAA DII Nationals from her 2019 run, graduate student Hasna Kaarour has closely followed Novak in each of the last two races, placing third at the PacWest Championship for the third All-PacWest First Team selection of her career and 14th at Regionals for her third All-Region Team honor. The 2018 PacWest Newcomer of the Year and 2019 PacWest Runner of the Year owns a 6k personal best of 21:05 which came at her first Nationals appearance.

Sophomore Delanie Dykes comes into this weekend having earned an All-Region Team selection with an 18th place finish at Regionals. All-PacWest First Team in her debut season, she posted new a 6k personal best by more than 26 seconds with her 22:00.7 mark.

The Urban Knight with the most years in an ART U uniform, redshirt junior Audrey Rosencrans will make her first Nationals appearance after a 2021 season that has seen her pick up All-PacWest Second Team honors for the third time in her career before her best finish thus far at Regionals (28th). The 2018 PacWest Freshman of the Year also ran her fastest 6k earlier this season with a 22:12.5 time at the SF State Invitational on Sept. 10.

Some of the team's biggest individual kicks have come from freshman Lina Hanich who became All-PacWest Third Team after impressively passing seven others over the final 2k of the conference meet. She then overtook five competitors down the stretch at Regionals to help her team once more. Hanich's best 6k mark of the season was 23:08.6 at the SF State Invite.

THE COURSE, CHALLENGE, & CONDITIONS
The NCAA DII National Championship cross country women's 6k race through The Abbey Course in St. Leo, Florida is set for this Saturday, Nov. 20 at 8:30 a.m. ET (5:30 a.m. PT). NCAA All-American honors are awarded to the Top 40 finishers regardless of the team for which they compete. For more information on the meet, check out St. Leo's NCAA National Championships homepage.

Saturday's forecast in St. Leo calls for cloudy skies in the morning with a projected temperature of 66 degrees at race time, a 13 percent chance of rain, and winds at 10 miles per hour.

KNIGHTS AT NATIONALS
Appearing at NCAA DII Nationals as recently as 2019, Academy of Art women's cross country was represented by Hasna Kaarour who placed 48th overall with a 6k personal record at the meet held in Sacramento.

Prior to Kaarour's appearance, the program sent two individuals, Gatien Airiau and Swann Phelippeau, to Evansville, Ind. where Airiau became the third Urban Knight to earn All-American honors on the men's side in 2017.

The 2016 ART U men's cross country squad made history by not only becoming the first team to reach NCAA DII Nationals, but that group of eight Urban Knights finished 11th overall, the highest ever by a Pacific West Conference team at that point and four spots ahead of their projection. Graduate student Joshua Thorson led the way, finishing 40th overall to earn the program's third individual All-American medal to date.

Before 2016, just four Urban Knights had ever reached the elite stage that is NCAA Nationals. In 2015, Valentin Pepiot and Pierre Fontanarosa contested cold conditions at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo. where Pepiot redeemed his 2014 Nationals run in Louisville, Ky. by becoming the men's cross country program's first All-American after finishing seventh. Before him in 2013, Nicolas Rifflard competed in Spokane, Washington and finished in the upper tier though also shy of becoming an All-American.

On Nov. 17, 2012, Jenny Bergren made ART U history by becoming the program's first All-American. With incredible determination, Bergren went from 80th place after the first mile to 37th halfway through and eventually 15th at the finish. Despite it being "one of the hardest things she's ever done," Bergren's performance announced the arrival of the Urban Knights on a national scale.
 
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