LOUISVILLE, KY - Seven national championships. Only one other program in NCAA Division III history can say they have accomplished as much as Johns Hopkins women's cross country.
Young. Old. Experienced. Inexperienced. Veteran. Youthful. Over the past decade it hasn't mattered what type of team
Bobby Van Allen has showed up at the NCAA Championships with. This time, only one of the seven Blue Jays who ran on Saturday in Louisville had ever competed in a Division III Cross Country Championship and none of the athletes who ran had ever competed as a Blue Jay.
Despite the lack of NCAA XC experience, the Blue Jays showed a combination of talent, grit, resolve and want-to, eking out a seventh national championship in program history by just two points over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
"I'm so proud of this team. They executed our race plan to near perfection. We really did a nice job establishing our pack and positioning early and that really helped us move up throughout the race," Van Allen said.
The 2021 season was challenging for Blue Jay senior captain
Ella Baran, but Baran showed out in the biggest moment of the season, placing ninth to lead the Jays. Baran crossed the finish line in 21:03.1, finishing just behind Centennial Conference rival Isabel Cardi of Dickinson. Baran picked off three girls over the final stretch of the race to jump into the top-10 and earn those crucial points for Hopkins. The senior's time of 21:03.1 is the second-fastest time by a Blue Jay at the NCAA Championships in program history.
"Ella coming back was inspiring to everyone. Her goal was to just do her best and be there for her teammates. She put in so much work and I was just so happy to see it all come together for her in the way it did," Van Allen said.
The next Blue Jays to cross the finish line did so in near unison as
Alex Ross (21:33.4) and
Paloma Hancock (21:35.5) placed 20
th and 21
st for JHU, joining Baran as All-Americans. Tightly packed as the Jays usually are,
Ashley Heidenrich,
Dianna Vizza and
Sara Stephenson all crossed the finish line within 11 seconds of each other. Heidenrich led the way, crossing in 21:54.1 to place 46
th. Vizza clocked in at 21:59.6, taking 54
th while Stephenson finished in 22:05.0 to place 56
th. Senior
Lina Spjut finished less than 20 seconds later, placing 87
th and ensuring that all Blue Jay competitors finished in the top-90 amongst the 292 competitors. Each spot proved crucial in the Blue Jays two-point advantage.
"We talk all the time about hitting the reset button over the last mile as if its tied so it was funny that that is basically what ended up happening. Our girls dug down and just went after it all the way through the finish and that was enough to get it done," Van Allen noted.
For Baran, Ross, and Hancock, this will be their first XC All-American honors. Baran earned a pair of All-American honors in Track & Field earlier this year. This is the ninth championship in-a-row where Johns Hopkins has had at least three All-Americans.
Not only does Johns Hopkins tie SUNY-Cortland for the most championships in NCAA Division III history with seven, but Van Allen ties Jack Daniels for the most-ever championships won by a head coach, also with seven.
"To tie the legendary SUNY Cortland program is very gratifying, mainly because I think it speaks volumes for the women that have poured everything into this program over the last two decades. It's not about one person or one team, but about the culture that everyone has worked hard to instill and continue to develop over the years."
