LAWRENCE, Kan. – The UBC Thunderbirds won the team title at the 35th NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship in dominant fashion on Saturday morning in Lawrence, Kan., placing four runners in the top 10 to record a 98-point victory and give head coach Marek Jedrzejek his fourth career national title in his final meet.
 
Senior runner Maria Bernard, a Calgary native, led the way for UBC in her last cross country event as a T-Bird. She pulled away from second-place finisher Hannah Fields of Oklahoma Baptist at around the three-kilometre mark to become the first Thunderbirds woman to ever claim the individual title at an NAIA national championship.
 
"I couldn't expect anything better than this," said Jedrzejek, who was also honoured as the NAIA's Women's Coach of the Year for the third year in a row. "In my last national championships, the women's team wins, Maria wins individually, Jack runs superbly to earn fourth in his race and we win the combined title as well. That makes me very happy."
 
Bernard triumphantly crossed the finish line of the 5-k race in 17 minutes and 3.80 seconds. Fields was next at 17:34, but two more T-Birds pushed through in third and fourth to help clinch the team victory.



Like Bernard, Amelie de Fenoyl was also competing in her final meet for UBC. The Toronto native came on strong to complete the race in 17:39, followed by Natalia Hawthorn of Bracebridge, Ont., in fourth at 17:45.
 
Jackie Regan of Vancouver, who is graduating this year, was also able to finish off her university cross country career in style as her time of 18:11 earned her a 10th-place finish.
 
UBC's final team points came from the always-improving Tamara Harris of New Westminster, B.C. She placed 29th to earn All-American status, which goes to the top 30 finishers, with a time of 18:35.
 
Sandra Kilmartin, a Salmon Arm, B.C., native in her first year with UBC, was not far behind Harris in in 39th place with a time of 18:44.
 
Kirsten Lee rounded out the Thunderbirds contingent. The runner from Port Coquitlam, B.C., was 67th, covering the course in 19:08. Lee's finish also meant all seven UBC athletes finished in the top 20 per cent of the 336-person field.
 
Harris, Kilmartin and Lee all made their NAIA national championship debuts on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds, the No. 1-ranked squad in the final NAIA Women's Cross Country Top 25 Poll compiled a team score of 43 – which was 98 points ahead of second-place and No. 4 Lewis-Clark State's (Idaho) 141. Rounding out the top five was third-place and third-ranked Northwest Christian (Ore.) (181), No. 6 Carroll (Mont.) (234) and second-ranked Dordt (Iowa) (235).
 
UBC has now won three-consecutive banners, joining fellow Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) member Cal State San Marcos as the last team to accomplish such a feat. The A.I.I. now owns the last six team national titles. The T-Birds are also tied for the third-most NAIA women's cross country banners.
 
For Jedrzejek, he retires as UBC's head coach with three NAIA women's titles as well as one CIS men's banner, which the Thunderbirds won in 1993.
 
This year's edition of the UBC men's squad claimed sixth place at the 59th NAIA meet, moving up from its No. 10 ranking in the final NAIA Men's Cross Country Top 25 Poll. The Thunderbirds had 213 points, 158 back of Oklahoma City.
 
Jack Williams ran a brilliant race to lead his team, edging out Oklahoma City's Csaba Matko at the finish line to earn fourth. Williams, of White Rock, B.C., completed the 8-k run, his last in a UBC uniform, in 24:53 while Matko was just 0.70 seconds back.
 
Newcomer Evan Elder, of Christchurch, New Zealand, joined Williams as an All-American by being the 14th runner across the line. He clocked a time of 25:21 in his first NAIA national meet.
 
Another first-year cross country runner, Ben Thorne of Kitimat, B.C., was 76th with a time 26:12, while senior Matt Galea of Calgary placed 79th in 26:16.
 
Surrey, B.C.'s Bilal Shamsi and two other runners crossed the finish line in 26:22, and the third-year T-Bird ended up in 94th.
 
In his last race for UBC, captain Will Cliff of Vancouver was 119th as he covered the Rim Rock Farm course in 26:38. Junior Devin Rajala of North Vancouver was 140th, recording a time of 26:47.
 
With the performances on Saturday, UBC also earned the combined cross country team title for the third straight season.
 
Though the university season is over, most of the athletes who competed in Lawrence, Kan., today will also take part in the Canadian Cross Country Championships next Saturday at Jericho Park for their respective clubs.
 
After that, the athletes and coaches will begin preparations for the 2015 track and field season.