2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Newville, Pennsylvania
The countdown of Central College’s top 10 sports stories from the past school year continues today with #3, as the Dutch cross country teams found success at the National level on Saturday November 18th.
With their best showing since capturing the program’s first-ever title in 1981, the Central women’s squad had three all-Americans and finished ninth at the NCAA Division III Championships. Caroline McMartin gained all-American distinction for the second time, placing 12th in 21:20.8 on the demanding 6,000-meter course. It was the highest NCAA finish by a Central runner since Jackie Schwers placed fifth for the 1981 national champions. Megan Johnson finished 30th in the race (21:39.1), while Addison Parrott took 38th with a career-best effort, and both earned all-American distinction in their first national meet appearance. The Dutch, who were ranked #15 entering the meet, exceeded that ranking with a ninth place finish. A Pella native, McMartin said it was great to be a part of Central’s success at the national meet.
“I wanted to finish my career as strong as I could. And it also is really special to just do it at Central, having grown up in Pella and always being around the college and now supported by the whole community. My high school coaches have been super supportive of everything, and now my college family, so it’s been really cool to get to do this at Central.”
For just the second time in school history, two Central men’s cross country runners gained all-American distinction as the Dutch finished 15th at the national championships. Caleb Silver took seventh place individually (24:35.8) on the 8,000-meter course, earning him all-America distinction for the second time after finishing 25th last year. Silver’s finish was the second highest in program history, trailing only Eli Horton’s 2013 mark of fourth place. Noah Jorgenson also gained all-America honors, taking 24th in 24:53.6, helping the Dutch gain multiple all-American honorees for the first time since 2013 and the second time overall. Silver and Jorgenson’s efforts came in Central’s first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2015, where their 15th-place showing was the program’s highest since taking 11th in 2014.