OVERLAND PARK, Kan.— Mount Mary's strong cross country season concluded with a handful of post-season awards from the Association of Division III Independents Tuesday.  

Four Blue Angel harriers earned a spot on an All-AD3I Team, while seventh-year head coach Eugene Miranda was named the AD3I Coach of the Year.

Miranda's building of the Mount Mary Cross Country program hasn't gone unnoticed, as the Blue Angels posted its best season in school history. MMU placed eighth out of 15 teams at the Wisconsin Private College Championships race in October and its 35th place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional was its best ever finish in the post-season race.

"The seventh year really has been the best year in terms of climbing the peak," Miranda said. "I remember our very first meet at St. Norbert and the coach at St. Scholastica [which has been consistently ranked for several years in Division III] noticed we were a new team. I said I only had three runners and he said he once started with similar numbers."

With tedious attention to detail and athlete-specific tailored workouts, Miranda has truly built the Mount Mary Cross Country program from scratch.

"I told myself I'd give this program 10 years to build. Seven years later and we're close to where we want to be," Miranda added. "I want to get at least one runner to nationals—the whole team would be a dream come true."

Headlining Mount Mary's individual efforts this season was senior Emily Barker (Oconomowoc, Wis.). Barker broke and re-broke her own school records for both 5-kilometer and 6-kilometer races all season long. Most notably, she set a 5K mark of 19:44.0 at UW-Parkside's Lucian Rosa Invitational in mid-October and smashed her best 6K finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a time of 23:34.3—the first time she had ever broken the 24-minute mark.

The Blue Angel trio of senior Vanessa Schellinger (West Bend, Wis.) and freshmen Natalie Guyette (Shiocton, Wis.) and Hayley Hove (Golden Valley, Minn.) all earned Second Team honors, marking the first time Mount Mary has ever placed four runners on All-D3I teams.

"All the runners' recognitions are well-deserved," Miranda said, "and they run because they want to. Sure I'm there to motivate them, but if they wanted to they could just walk away. Every morning they are all there and it's rewarding to have them all ready and in place. That's why I do it—people want to be there and want to accomplish things."

Nebraska Wesleyan University sophomore Gabi Jenkins was named the AD3I Runner of the Year and led four Prairie Wolves on the First Team. NWU freshman Nicole Hamilton was named Rookie Runner of the Year.  

2013 All-Association of Division III Independent Cross Country Teams

FIRST TEAM
Emily Barker, Junior, Mount Mary University
Nicole Hamilton, Freshman, Nebraska Wesleyan University (Rookie of the Year)
Gabi Jenkins, Sophomore, Nebraska Wesleyan University (Runner of the Year)
MacKenzie Steinauer, Junior, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Ali Tewes, Senior, Nebraska Wesleyan University

SECOND TEAM
Tayler Fisher, Sophomore, College of New Rochelle
Natalie Guyette, Freshman, Mount Mary University
Hayley Hove, Freshman, Mount Mary University
Jamie Larsen, Sophomore, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Kayla Legassie, Senior, University of Maine-Presque Isle
Kelly McNamee, Senior, St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn)
Vanessa Schellinger, Senior, Mount Mary University
Margo Watson, Sophomore, Maranatha Baptist Bible College

The Association of Division III Independents consists of seven Division III independent institutions that have joined together to recognize student-athletes at independent institutions, and to provide exempted postseason championship competition. The Association recognizes outstanding athletic achievements of its student-athletes on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. The Association provides statistical services for its members in seven sports. In addition, it will announce All-Independent teams at the conclusion of eight other sports this year.

More information about the Association of Division III Independents is available at d3independents.org.