SPARTANSBURG, S.C. – Geneva College seniors Hailey Carroll and Carmen Medvit wrapped up their standout Golden Tornado cross country careers on Saturday at the NCAA Division III National Championship race, hosted at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the duo both ran strong races to finish within the top 80 runners, out of 290 women competing.
The pair put together a tremendous finish to their Geneva careers over the past month, highlighted by the women leading the Golden Tornadoes to their first Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship at the beginning of the month. Medvit captured the program's first individual PAC title at that race, while Carroll placed third. Saturday's race was the third time Medvit has qualified for the National Championship meet, while this was Carroll's second trip to the national meet.
Carroll finished the 6K race with a time of 22:28, placing her 68th overall. Two years ago at the national meet, Carroll placed 91st overall, so Saturday was her best career finish at the national meet. She also had a strong finish, as she was in 97th place at the 4K point of the race before closing well over the final 2000 meters.
Medvit wasn't far behind Carroll, with the duo staying close throughout the race, as has often been the case for the standout pair over their four years together. Medvit finished with a time of 22:36, which placed her 76th overall. It's also her second top 100 finish of her career after placing 64th in 2023. Both Carroll and Medvit missed last year's national meet due to injuries.
NYU won the team championship, while Middlebury's Audrey Maclean won the individual title with an impressive time of 20:16, almost 40 seconds faster than any other runner at the meet.
Carroll and Medvit will now get a little bit of a break before beginning preparations for the upcoming track and field season. Geneva's first indoor meet is in two weeks at Mount Union on December 6, the team's only meet during the first semester. Most cross country runners for Geneva take that meet off as they recover from the cross country season.
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