Grand Rapids, MI — The Goshen College women’s cross country team may have failed to repeat its collective feat from a year ago at this weekend’s NAIA Region VIII Championships, but junior Laura Harnish found little trouble in producing a carbon copy result, qualifying for her second straight trip to the NAIA National Championships with a seventh-place finish overall.
Harnish ran a nearly identical clip of 18:50.52 at Saturday’s event — she ran an 18:50 time in last year’s regional championship (click here for related article) — becoming the first individual from the region to qualify for the year’s biggest race.
With Indiana Tech earning the team championship and Indiana Wesleyan University, Spring Arbor University and Aquinas College all claiming at-large bids, Harnish was the first runner not on one of those teams to cross the finish line. Aquinas’ Amanda Strouse won the individual medal, finishing in 17:56.39.
In addition to duplicating her time from last year’s regional meet, Harnish also duplicated her exact finish in seventh.
“Laura again ran a great race and qualified for the national championships as an individual,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen head coach. “She has been steady all year and just continues to turn in great efforts after great efforts. We’re hoping that she can continue our legacy of NAIA All-Americans in a couple weeks.”
Goshen has sported an All-American finisher in women’s cross country in each of the last three years, all coming courtesy of 2006 graduate Petrana Petkova. The Leafs have now qualified at least one individual in the last six NAIA National Championships, as Harnish, Petkova, ’06 grad Laura Herr, ’03 grad Melissa Lehman and ’03 grad Heidi Saunders all have helped keep an impressive streak in tact.
Sophomore Rachael Baker finished second for Goshen on Saturday and just a painful two spots away from qualifying for the national meet, finishing in a time of 19:17.99 in 21st place overall. Freshman Maria Byler (89th, 21:07.19) and sophomore Tina Peters (96th, 21:23.66) were next in line for the team, while sophomore Renee Miller (130th, 23:03.38) rounded off Goshen’s scoring runners.
“Rachel ran another very good race and missed going to nationals by two spots,” Yoder said. “Our women’s team ended with a number of runners not running their best because of injuries. The plus side is that they finished in front several of the Mid-Central Conference teams that they were behind at the MCC Championship meet.”
Goshen finished ninth out of 15 total teams at Saturday’s meet, defeating both Huntington University and the University of St. Francis — as in the MCC meet — but also bettered Marian College and Grace College, teams that finished directly below Goshen. The Leafs finished with 260 points at the invitational. Indiana Tech’s 59-point tally won the event. Complete results from Saturday's meet can be viewed by clicking here.
Harnish will now train for two weeks before being the lone Goshen representative at the NAIA National Championships on Nov. 17, an event to be held at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Women’s race time is slated to begin at 12:45 p.m. (EST). For complete details on the NAIA National Championships, click here. To view the list of qualifiers for the event, click here.
Goshen Individual Results
Laura Harnish (7th) — 18:50.52
Rachael Baker (21st) — 19:17.99
Maria Byler (89th) — 21:07.19
Tina Peters (96th) — 21:23.66
Renee Miller (129th) — 23:03.38
Michelle Miller (130th) — 23:12.57
Laura Stoesz (139th) — 25:51.32
Bethany Loberg (140th) — 25:40.50
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Junior Laura Harnish 
Watch video highlights from this meet!