RedStorm duo advance to NAIA nationals

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     KOKOMO, Ind. - Two runners from the University of Rio Grande earned a trip to the upcoming NAIA national championship based on their performances at Saturday's River States Conference Women's Cross Country Championship hosted by Indiana University Kokomo.
     Freshman Amarissa Kerns (Lancaster, OH) posted a runner-up finish in the 5k race with a time of 19:50, while fellow frosh Olivia Cisco (Waverly, OH) placed fifth among the 77 competitors after crossing the finish line in 19:58.
     By virtue of being among the top four individuals who were not members of the winning team, both punched their respective tickets to the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship, which is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 18 in Tallahassee, Fla.
     As the top finisher new to the conference, Kerns also was named RSC Women's Cross Country Newcomer of the Year.
     Point Park University senior Alyssa Campbell easily won the race with a time of 18:56 - nearly a minute quicker than Kerns - while collecting her third RSC individual championship and Runner of the Year honors.
     The Pioneers also won the team title - their fifth conference title in the last eight years - with three runners in the Top 10 and a total of 44 points. St. Mary-of-the-Woods College had 75 points to edge out host IU Kokomo (76 pts.) for second place.
     Rio Grande finished fourth as a team with 114 points.
     With the win, Point Park earned the RSC's automatic team qualification to the NAIA National Championship.
     Also earning a trip to the national meet as individuals were Kayla Coryea from St. Mary-of-the-Woods in third place and Casey Lechner from IU Kokomo in fourth.
     The top seven finishers overall earned All-RSC First Team honors, with finishers 8-14 getting All-RSC Second Team accolades.
     The remainder of the all-conference first team included Point Park's Carlijn de Bie and Jana Schmid, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
     The all-conference second team was comprised of Gabbi Funk and Trinity Smith from Midway University; Ohio Christian University's Brittany Lenz; Leslie Sprankles of Indiana University Kokomo; Emily Truax and Abbigael Coyle from Saint Mary of the Woods College; and Point Park's Emily Leo.
     Point Park head coach Tim Creamer was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
     Also representing Rio Grande in the race was sophomore Jayden Roach (Baltimore, OH), who finished 28th in a time of 21:40; sophomore Abrielle Kerns (Lancaster, OH), who was 35th after crossing in 22:17; freshman Kaylor Offenberger (Waterford, OH), who took 59th place in a time of 24:22; and freshman Natalie Brammer (Wheelersburg, OH), who was 65th in a time of 25:21.
     The conference also named a Champions of Character team, as well as its Scholar-Athlete team.
     Amarissa Kerns was Rio's representative on the Champions of Character Team, which featured one member from each team who best represents respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.
     Abrielle Kerns and Roach made the Scholar-Athlete team, which honors those having a 3.25 GPA or higher and at least two semester of attendance at their school prior to the current term.