LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Every competing member of the Chadron State women's cross country team posted career-best times at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, leading the women's team to a 12^th-place finish while the men's team placed 14^th. 

Chadron State's women's team finished with 334 points, racing on a course which officially measured at 5.8 kilometers. The men's team finished with a score of 416 points. Both of the conference's defending champions, the Adams State women and Colorado School of Mines men, defended their titles. 

The women's team improves up to 12^th in 2024 after finishing 13^th last season and 14^th in the previous three. The 12^th-place finish is the highest finish at the RMAC meet for the women's cross country program since the women placed ninth in 2017. 

Sophomore Samantha Rodewald was CSC's top finisher, male or female, at this year's conference meet, running the women's 6K to a career-best time of 22:21.18 to finish 57^th. Rodewald smashed her previous season and career best of 23:33.60 by over a minute. 

Junior Lydia Peters also excelled with a career-best time, finishing 60^th in 22:32.09. Peters also beat her season and career best by over a minute, sinking her previous mark of 23:49.4. 

Senior Alissa Wieman finished 72^nd in 23:05.02, lowering her career-best time by 44 seconds and her season-best time by another 30 seconds on top of that. Freshman Kyndall Carnahan had a solid debut RMAC meet, finishing in 87^th position with a time of 23:55.36 that had 42 seconds faster than her season, and therefore career, lowest mark. 

Sophomore Katelyn Beshara finished just behind Carnahan in 88^th with a mark of 23:57.67, also beating a career-high by over a minute and besting what she ran at RMAC last year by nearly a minute and a half. 

Also competing at the meet were Zelma Rudd (99^th, 24:48.52) and Ivy Hise (110^th, 27:04.79), who also both set career-best marks.

For the Chadron State men, the first Eagle across the line was Kyle Shirley, who capped a banner day after he was named the RMAC's Summit Award winner earlier Saturday morning for having the top GPA of any RMAC athlete competing at each sport's championship. Shirley ran a season-best 8K of 26:55.94. 

The next three finishers for the CSC men were Wyatt Bly (85^th, 27:13.87), Blaine Johnson (99^th, 27:38.42) and Miles Mitchell (108^th, 29:01.87). Adam Beard finished 111^th for the Eagles, but did turn in a season-best time of 29:41.53. 

The Eagles will compete next at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday, November 9 in Denver. At that meet, the Eagles will seek to qualify either teams or individuals for the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento, California on November 23.