Malea Martin, Natalie Marsh Earn Top-100 Finishes at Nationals in Final Cross Country Race

OSHKOSH, Wis. - Seniors Malea Martin and Natalie Marsh both finished in the top 100 in the nation in their final collegiate cross country races, as they helped the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's cross country team to an 18th place finish (of 32) at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.

Martin led the way for the Athenas with a 75th place finish, crossing the line in the 6K race in 22:22.5. Marsh was not far behind, as she finished in 22:27.0 to come in 86th place, out of 279 of the top Division III runners in the nation. Both had their highest finish at nationals in their careers, as Martin was 124th at nationals a year ago, while Marsh was making her first trip to nationals. 

Sophomore Abigale Johnson was the third Athena to cross the line, finishing in 22:51.7 to place her 143rd. Freshman Riley Harmon was fourth in 23:12.7 to place 192nd, while sophomore Dulcie Jones was the final scorer for CMS, coming in just under the 200 cutoff in 197th place in 23:13.9. 

Sophomore Georgia Scherer competed in nationals for the first time for the Athenas as well and finished in 23:24.2, while senior Matilda Msall, making her first trip to nationals as well, ended in 244th place.  

Washington University took the team title by just one point over Johns Hopkins (98 points to 99), while Paige Lawler of WashU took the individual title in 20:55.0, winning by 3.7 seconds over Claire Lamb of Otterbein. 

CMS graduates Martin and Marsh off of this year's team, which won the program's ninth straight SCIAC title, but has a strong core group returning for the next two years with Johnson, Harmon, Jones and Scherer hoping to continue on the program's streak of 11 straight trips to nationals.