FINAL RESULTS

SEARCY, Ark - The Henderson State women's cross country team finished its 2021 season in Searcy, Arkansas, with the Great American Conference Championships. The Reddies finished in tenth place with an overall time of 1:45:24, beating out Northwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas-Monticello while coming up just six total seconds short of Southern Nazarene.

For this first time this season, Heidy Galvan paced the Henderson runners, finishing 42nd in the 141-person field, crossing the finish line at 19:54.6 through five kilometers. It was the first time in the sophomore's collegiate career to break the 20 minute mark in a 5K race.

Tori Johnson was the second Reddie to break through, finishing with a time of 20:13.3 for 54th. Freshman Tessa Kuykendall and sophomore Madison Mears finished back-to-back at 86th (21:29.7) and 87th (21:47.3), respectively.

Kaylie Wheeless ran her fastest 5K time since the Lois Davis Invitational in 2019, coming in at 21:58.7 for 92nd. Ashlyn Billingsley placed 98th at 22:12.6 while Martha Mosqueda saw a 105th placement, finishing at 22:34.2.

Rebecca Niedzwiedz, in her final collegiate race, enjoyed her favorite race of the season, as evidenced by her fastest times in her HSU history occurring at the GAC Championships. With a time of 22:38.5, Niedzwiedz placed 107th. Jaci Ammons finished off the Reddie runners, coming in at 24:44.7 for 119th.

From the race track to the classroom, Niedzwidez was selected as one of four Elite Scholar Athletes throughout all of the GAC cross country teams, achieving a 4.0 GPA this semester. Ammons, Mosqueda and Wheeless were named Distinguished Scholar Athletes. 

Henderson State closes its season having posted its best finish since 2019 when it saw a 3rd place finish out of eight teams at the Bob Gravett Invitational back on Sept. 11.