TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Cross Country season concluded at the 2024 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Indiana, highlighted by the Colorado College women finishing sixth and a trio of All-Americans.
The sixth-place finish is the best in program history for Colorado College and tied for the best finish in SCAC cross country history, tying the Trinity Tigers’ sixth-place finish in 2008. The three individual All-American’s is tied for the most in SCAC history, tying the mark originally set back in 2008. It also marks the first time since 2009 the league has earned All-American honors on both the men’s and women’s side.
Senior Isabel Olsen posted CC's best individual finish ever at the Division III National Meet, placing 10th overall with a 6K time of 21:16.8, topping CC"s previous best finish of 16th by Sara Fry in 1993. Olsen’s finish is the best SCAC individual finish since 2009 when Trinity’s Caitlin Masse finished eighth and DePauw’s Lauren Reich finished fourth at the 2009 Championships. Fellow senior Sydney Rankin finished 24th with a time of 21:34.3, giving the Tigers two All-Americans for the fourth time in program history. It marks just the second time in SCAC history two athletes from the same program have earned All-American honors, matching Katie Sandfort and Leah Wessler of Colorado College in 2016. Olson and Ranking are the 16th and 17th Women’s Cross Country All-Americans in SCAC history.
The fourth-ranked Tigers, participating as a team for the fourth consecutive year, finished with 277 points. MIT won the team title with 128 points, followed by the University of Chicago with 138, Williams with 155, NYU with 177, Johns Hopkins with 256 and Colorado College.
Junior Alison Mueller-Hickler finished in 60th place, followed by sophomore Charlie Flint in 134th and senior Elliot Singer in 145th. Senior Britt Helgaas (156th) and junior Abby Goodfried (162nd) rounded out the field for the Tigers.
Additionally, the SCAC sent three individuals to compete for the individual national title on Saturday as Southwestern University’s Breanna Steele qualified for the women’s meet and Colorado College’s Will Shuflit and Trinity University’s Will Salony qualified for the men’s championship.
Steele turned in a top-80 finish, taking home 79th in her NCAA Championship debut. The junior crossed the line in a time of 22:13.5.
Shuflit, rounded out the SCAC All-American’s after earning 30th at Saturday’s Championship. The sophomore is the seventh individual All-American in program history and 14th in SCAC history. The reigning SCAC Runner of the Year, completed the 8K course in 24 minutes, 34.8 seconds. He is the second All-American in as many years for Colorado College, following 2024 graduate James Settles, who placed fourth last season, and is the seventh in program history.
Salony competed at nationals for the third straight year, finishing 64th in this year's event with a time of 24:58.6 to eclipse last year's time, and improve on his time at the NCAA Championships each season. His 64th place finish is the second-best in school history, trailing only his 58th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships.
To view the full results from the 2024 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships, click here.
