Gaston College repeats as Region 10 champion as Birtwistle takes top individual honors

Gaston College's women's cross country team repeated as National Junior College Athletic Association Region 10 champions on Saturday at the Cleveland Community College cross country course in Shelby.

Lexi Birtwistle became the school's second consecutive Region 10 individual champion and she was joined by three teammates on the All-Region 10 team on a day when all five Rhinos' runners had personal bests.

Birtwistle completed the 5K women's course in 19 minutes, 4 seconds. Teammate Maddie Frank was runner-up (20:39) and Sasha Harrelson and Carson Summey finished fifth and seventh, respectively for Gaston College as Birtwistle, Frank, Harrelson and Summey all earned All-Region 10 honors.

The team's fifth runner, Heidi Rodriguez Hernandez, also had a personal best as the Rhinos had a team score of 36.

"Each of the ladies had their personal bests and I'm proud of all of them," Gaston College coack Kody Kubbs said. "Lexi and Maddie set the pace and showed how their offseason training workouts really benefitted them - and the team."

Birtwistle and Frank will advance to compete in the NJCAA national cross country championships on Nov. 8 and the NJCAA national half marathon championships on Nov. 11. Both will be held at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

"It feels good," Frank said. "We put in a lot of work as a team throughout the year to improve. And one of our goals was to come back and repeat."

Led by Keirieonna Wilson's medalist-winning finish last year, Gaston College won its first Region 10 cross country title. Then freshmen, Birtwistle finished fourth and Frank fifth during last season's Rhinos' title run.

This season, Birtwistle and Frank were sophomore leaders for a team whose other three participants were freshmen.

"I'm grateful for the runners I've been surrounded by and how they've helped push me and our team to do better," Birtwistle said.

Kubbs, in his fourth year as Gaston College cross country coach, hopes the program will benefit from back-to-back titles.

"It definitely helps when I talk to recruits," Kubbs said. "I can sell, 'Come be a part of a championship team.' And travelling to the nationals is certainly a selling point in recruiting.
"We had a good time in Richmond last year and we're looking forward to a good time in Iowa this year."

The runners could use your support to help cover the costs of traveling to the national championship. Visit https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/1105869690 to donate to their team fundraiser. Any amount you can give is appreciated.