Former Catholic star medals in NCAA cross country national championship

Former Catholic star Amaris Tyynismaa was part of the Alabama Cross Country team that finished eighth in the national championship on Monday. She finished third overall. (Courtesy Unv. Alabama Media Relations)

By TIM GAYLE

Former Catholic long-distance standout Amaris Tyynismaa ran in second place for much of the event before finishing third in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, leading the University of Alabama to an eighth-place finish in the event.

The Crimson Tide sophomore finished behind teammate Mercy Chelangat, a junior who won the individual national championship, and sophomore Taylor Roe, who was running on her home course at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla.

Chelangat won the Crimson Tide’s first-ever national championship in women’s cross country with a time of 20:01.1, followed by Roe at 20:06.7. Tyynismaa ran the event in 20:10.2, the highest time ever by a Crimson Tide sophomore and the second highest time (behind Chelangat) in school history.

Carole Trepanier is the only other Alabama women’s cross country runner to finish in the top 10, placing fifth in 1988. 

Chelangat is only the second Southeastern Conference runner to ever win the event, joining Missouri’s Karissa Schweizer.

Alabama scored 280 points to secure eighth place in the team race, the second-highest finish in team history after a sixth-place finish in 1988. It is the second top-10 team finish in program history and it came in the Crimson Tide’s first team appearance at the national championships since 1994.

Chelangat’s title and Alabama’s top-10 finish came less than 48 hours after the Alabama women finished 16th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. While Chelangat and Tyynismaa qualified in individual events at NCAA Indoors, the decision was made to scratch them and focus on the cross country championships.

“When my coaches talked to me about indoor track and cross country, I agreed that I wanted to focus on cross country, because I personally love cross country,” Chelangat said. “I think it was the right decision. I’m so proud of my teammates. We’ve been training for this for so long and we’ve worked so hard. I love my teammates, I have the best teammates ever and I’m so happy for them.”

Tyynismaa, a five-time state champion in cross country at Catholic, agreed with Chelangat.

“It was a really big deal for our team,” she said. “We knew we were capable of something like this. We’ve been training really hard and we showed that today.”

Tyynismaa ran the first 1,000 meters in 10th place, but quickly moved up to second place and stayed there until the final 1,000 meters when both Chelangat and Roe pulled ahead.

Alabama was one of only three Southeastern Conference teams invited to the 31-team field, along with Arkansas, who finished 10th, and Ole Miss, which finished 12th.

“We’re just so proud of this team and what they accomplished out there today,” Alabama track coach Dan Waters said. “This was a tough, tough course and the competition was fierce, but we put it all out there and got it done. What an incredible race by Mercy and Amaris, leading us all the way through. They are the top finishers in our history at this meet and Mercy is not only our first NCAA cross country champion, but she is just the second in SEC history, which a big deal. I can’t say enough about these ladies, our staff and everyone who helped us get to this point.”