Taylor (Ind.) Women, Dordt (Iowa) Men Win NAIA Cross Country Titles In Florida
By David Woods for DyeStat
Lina May had such an undistinguished Southern Mississippi career, she never qualified for an NCAA championship nor finished higher than third in a Conference USA race. Addy Wiley, by contrast, is the fastest miler in high school history.
May ran knowing that, and ran away to a national championship.
The William Carey (Miss.) senior built a big lead and never relented in the NAIA Cross Country Championships on Friday at Tallahassee, Fla.
May clocked 16:50.9 for 5,000 meters at Apalachee Regional Park, or 36 seconds faster than she ran on this course Oct. 7. Wiley, a Huntington (Ind.) freshman, was second in 16:58.9.
Both times were personal bests on the fast layout on a 44-degree morning. LIVE RESULTS
Top-ranked Taylor (Ind.) packed all five scorers in the top 20, separated by just 25 seconds, for 50 points. It was the lowest winning score since 1998. Defending champion Milligan (Tenn.) was second with 177 and College of Idaho third with 201.
May burst ahead as Wiley was content to run in the chase pack. May led by 12 seconds at the 2K, and gave up little of that gap.
“I just wanted to go out from the gun and run hard,” May said. “That’s how I like to do it. Just stay gritty and see who’s the toughest.”
Wiley never was close enough for May to hear footsteps.
“But I heard a lot of, ‘Go Addy! She’s closing,’ “ May said. “I know that she has a great kick, a 1,500 runner. I’m a 10K runner. I don’t have that kind of kick. I knew I had to stretch it from the beginning if I was going to make a move. I couldn’t leave it up to the end.”
May, a high school state champion in Mississippi, represented Southern Miss for four years. She decided to take a final season of eligibility at William Carey, a private Christian college. She said she was influenced to do so after a summer mission trip to India.
Wiley set a national high school record for 1,600 meters on June 11, paced by now-suspended Huntington coach Lauren Johnson. Wiley committed to Colorado but instead enrolled at Huntington after running in August’s Under-20 World Championships.
Wiley was attempting to become the Foresters’ third NAIA champion in four years.
The two champions, Hannah Stoffel and Emma Wilson, are suing the university in a case alleging sexual abuse and forcible doping. Stoffel and Wilson have asserted the NAIA should invalidate their performances…
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