Ana Tucker ties Hope record with fourth place at NCAA cross championships
EAST LANSING - Ana Tucker has been a dominant running force, rewritting the Hope College record books on a yearly pace.
In her final cross country race, Tucker did it again, claiming fourth at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday, tying the school record for highest place at cross country nationals.
The senior from Midland finished the 6K race in 22 minutes, 2.1 seconds to take fourth on a cold and snowy day in East Lansing. The other Hope College runners to earn fourth place at nationals were Erin Herrmann in 2016 and Marcia Vandersall in 1992.
"You just try to stay awake, alert and to just keep on focusing on the competition, not so much on the times and generally things just work out, you just embrace the weather, work within instead of against it," Tucker said after the race.
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It was her third All-American finish. Last year, she was 11th, moving up seven places this year in a field of 293 runners.
"The race unfolded like we thought it would unfold, the goal was to get out, get with the lead pack early on, she ran exactly what she needed to do," Hope coach Mark Northuis said. "She has run a picture-perfect season."
Tucker's finish helped the team, which was ranked 26th coming into the meet, surge to 13th place at nationals at Forest Akers Golf Course. There were 32 teams who qualified.
Senior Ellie Jankowski was Hope's second finisher, running a 6K time of 23:24.3 for 94th place.
Just 24 seconds behind Jankowski was junior Rebecca Markham in 145th clocking in at 23:48.2.
Senior Anna Mason (Zeeland/Libertas Christian) took 149th with a time of 23:48.9.
Junior Olivia Quillan finished out the scoring for Hope with a time of 23:49.8.
Junior Heleyna Tucker took 240th with a time of 24:28.0 and freshman Madison Stern finished in 24:51.3.
"The team responded very well, Olivia Quillan who hadn't raced since the conference meet, finished seventh for us there and finished fourth for us today. Rebecca Markham stepped right up again for us today, and she had been out with a hamstring injury, and can't say enough about the seniors and Anna Mason as well as Heleyna Tucker," Northuis said. "It was a great experience for Maddie Stern to run as a freshman."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Ana Tucker ties Hope record with fourth place at NCAA cross championships
