JOPLIN, Mo..--- The Asbury University women's cross country team competed in the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) Championship on Friday morning to conclude their 2025 season, hosted at the Tom Rutledge CC Course in Joplin, Mo. Facing a competitive field, the Eagles finished a commendable third place among six qualifying teams, led by junior
Bailey Gassmann taking second place out of 54 runners to earn All-American honors.
Gassmann, a social work and adventure education and leadership major, running a 5K time of 19:16. The performance comes after her second-place finish in the Collegiate Conference of the South Championship, where she led Asbury to their second consecutive CCS Title. Last season in the NCCAA Championship, she finished 11th, showing significant improvement this season.
AU sophomore elementary education major
Emma Groff also put forth a commendable effort, aiming to break her personal best in the 5K race. Halfway through, she was well-positioned in 10th but eventually placed 17th, narrowly missing the top-10 All-American mark by a small margin. Her time, however, was only three seconds short of her personal best (20:39).
The team's success was rounded out by senior
Brooke O'Carroll and freshman
Emma Le Duc, who finished in 20th and 23rd places, respectively. Junior
Lucy Kate Gibson, finishing 28th with a time of 21:35, was noted for having possibly the best race among the Eagles' scorers.
The championship saw representation from 14 colleges and universities, including individuals from eight different schools that did not have qualifying teams. This third-place finish marks an excellent showing for the Eagles in a prestigious and highly competitive NCCAA Championship.
Overall Results
"NCCAA nationals was an incredible experience to run alongside other believers and glorify God through the gift of running! Our team focused on keeping our minds on the Lord and glorifying Him through all we did! I am so proud of this team and how they gave their all on the course!"
Brooke O'Carroll | Sr. | Elementary Education | Geneva, Ill.
"The ladies had a great trip down to Joplin. We couldn't quite re-create the magic from our conference meet a couple of weeks ago, but we did run very well. Bailey had an excellent race to finish as the national runner-up, and I was very pleased with the third-place team finish. Brooke O'Carroll is our only senior, and we are looking good with some strong recruits for next year, so the future is bright."
Randy Crist | Asbury Cross Country Assistant Coach
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