NEWVILLE, PA-- In their second consecutive appearance at Nationals, UC Santa Cruz finished 31st at the 2023 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
With four runners running for the first time at the NCAA Championships, the squad had a team time of 1:56:04. It was the 18th-best team time in program history and 2:26 better than their mark from the 2022 Championships.
Helena Janku led the Banana Slugs with a time of 22:38.6 to place 117th in the 6K race. It was 95 places better than Janku's debut last year at Lansing, Michigan.
Hanna Hekkanen was 196th in 23:04. NCAA debutant
Kenzie Seymour was 208th in 23:10.2.
The rest of the UC Santa Cruz contingent were
Elena Stanciu (23:20.5),
Faith Dyogi (23:50.6),
Luna Centeno (24:07.7) and
Cheryl Chuang (24:18.2). All seven runners are slated to return next season as the Banana Slugs have eyes on their third trip in a row.
