LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Whitman College cross country runner Whitney Rich carried her regional dominance on to the national stage, cracking the top 5 with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championship held Saturday morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.

Rich's fourth-place national championship finish is a new best for the program, topping Laura Matsen who placed ninth back in 2003. She ran the race in a time of 21:23.60 just under four seconds behind Dickinson's Isabel Cardi for third. 

Kristen Wanke capped her career placing 156th (23:14.10) in the 6K race. "It was a wonderful conclusion to our record breaking season," said Whitman coach Scott Shields. "Kristen ran a great race. She got caught in the pack on the first mile then made her way up the entire rest of the race and probably passed 70 runners. 

"Whitney put herself into the main pack," added Shields. "The top two runners broke away from the gun so she ran it smart and held to her plan. In the last 500 meters, she passed five runners plus one just a few meters from the finish to get fourth. Her kick has always been crazy good so we knew she'd finish strong."

Ithaca's Parley Hannan (20:53.80) won the individual title with Johns Hopkins winning the team title.