Whittier College’s Cross Country team made history this past weekend with Poets setting a new record as a team and excelling individually.
On a cold and windy Saturday, the men’s team competed at the NCAA Division III national races in Louisville, Kentucky—a first for the program. Julissa Tobias ’19 from the women’s team also returned to the nationals for a second year.
The men’s team placed 23rd of the 32 qualifying teams, which bests the previous top finish of 24th place by the women's team in 1994. Individually, Julian Sandoval’s ’19 time and place were the second best men's performance ever for the program.
Tobias kicked off the women’s 6k with a time of 21:40, a season best. With an average time of 5:51 per mile, she finished 83rd overall out of 280 runners.
"It's hard to spot Julissa on any race video because she was smart enough to use competitors to block the wind," said head coach Greg Phillips.
A week prior, Tobias had qualified after placing seventh overall at the regionals race in Salem, Oregon. The men’s team finished at an impressive fourth place. Though not an automatic qualifying position, the NCAA committee decided the team met the criteria for the nationals. The Poets' group text chat exploded with excitement the following Monday morning.
To read more about the history-making weekend, click here. And to watch a video, click here.
