by Mackenzie McMahon
Led by All-American Ana Tucker, the Hope College women's cross country team recorded one of the best finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships.
The Flying Dutch moved up two spots from the national rankings coming into the meet, finishing eighth out of 32 teams with a total of 346 points.
It was Hope's second-highest finish at nationals and the Flying Dutch's fifth Top 10 finish. Hope placed fourth in 1993 and ninth three times in 1987, 2013, and 2016.
Photo by Julia Robleski
Hope College Women's Cross Country Postseason Results
With most of the top runners returning, the future looks bright for the Flying Dutch.
"Only one of the top seven ladies is a senior, and we have 10 of our top 11 back," head coach Mark Northuis said. "This is a very strong foundation for next year's team."
Tucker (Midland, Michigan / Herbert Henry Dow HS) led the Flying Dutch by racing to an 11th place finish.
The junior clocked a 6K time of 21 minutes, 15.5 seconds to become an All-American for the second time in her career, the last being in 2019.
Hope's All-Americans
"Ana had a very strong season and grew in many ways as a runner and a leader," Northuis said. "Missing a cross country season last fall meant that she had some re-learning to do and revealed the need for more strength work.
"Being an All-American every collegiate season she has participated in cross country and track shows how strong a runner she is and how valuable she is to our team's success."
Hope's next finisher was junior Anna Mason from Zeeland, Michigan (Libertas Christian). Mason grabbed 74th place with a time of 22:15.0.
Sophomore Rebecca Markham (Hoffman Estates, Illinois / Fremd) placed 83rd (22:19.6).
Junior Ellie Jankowski (Granger, Indiana / Penn) took home 119th after finishing at 22:34.4.
Senior Jacinda Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) snagged 138th by recording a time of 22:40.8.
Other Flying Dutch finishers in the team's top seven were Heleyna Tucker (Midland, Michigan / Herbert Henry Dow) in 199th at 23:14.05 and Libby Gorman (Traverse City, Michigan / St. Francis) in 211th at 23:09.2.
