Gaston College runners finish in top 150 of NJCAA national cross country championships on cold, snowy day

Gaston College women's cross country runners Lexi Birtwistle and Maddie Frank not only experienced a second straight National Junior College Athletic Association championship meet, they were part of a rare weather event.

On a cold, snowy day in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Birtwistle finished 104th and Frank 150th out of 178 runners at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

"I'm very proud of how Maddie and Lexi ran today," Gaston College cross country coach Kody Kubbs said. "Obviously the conditions made for a slow race and the footing was bad between the snow and ice and mud.
"Based on the men's times for the race before ours, I told our ladies that the course was probably running about 90 seconds slower, which translated to how our times were."

Both sophomores from Belmont's South Point High School, Birtistle and Frank were coming off their 1-2 finish in the Region 10 championships in Shelby on Oct. 25.

On Saturday, Birtwistle ran the 5-kilometer course in 21 minutes, 39.4 seconds with Frank finishing in 23:40.8.

It was the fourth straight year Gaston College has sent a runner to the NJCAA championships.

"It was very cold, snowed all day and rather windy which combined with the poor condition of the course made for an incredibly tough race for everyone," Kubbs said of Saturday's race. "I thought Lexi and Maddie did an amazing job representing Gaston College and all of their hard work paid off with strong showing at nationals."

Birtwistle and Frank now have two full days off before competing in the NJCAA Half Marathon championships on Tuesday.

"Now we have time to recalibrate and get ready for the half marathon," Kubbs said. "The weather is looking much better for the half marathon so they are excited for that."