Warsaw, Indiana - The Polars cross country teams ran at the NCCAA DII National Championships on Friday. The Crown women were crowned national champions and the Crown men placed 3rd.

Ella Dufault led the Crown women as the 1st finisher earning the Individual Champion title with a championships record time of 19:13.8 in the 5k race speeding by the competition with a 30 second gap between her and the second place finisher. Mia Arroyo and Ruth Brueckner finished 4th and 5th place with times within one second of each other. Olivia Stanley placed 11th with a time of 21:11.9. Gracelyn Foster placed 20th and Lily Bandy took 22nd. Abbie Hough, Lindsey Morrison, Ashlyn Denton, and Cambria Whiteis rounded out the Polars competitors. As a team they finished 1st overall with the best team times and earned the programs first ever National Championship.

The Crown men were led by Austin Carlson who placed 2nd overall with a time of 27:15.7 in the 8k race. Andrew Deedon took 5th with a time of 27:58.4. Caden Swoboda took 19th, Luke Klassen took 34th, and Andrew Johnson rounded out the Polars competitors. As a team the Polars placed 3rd overall the highest finish in the NCCAA DII Championships in program history.