KENOSHA, Wisc.— Paced by an all-America performance from redshirt senior Megan Hodges, the Colorado Mesa University women's cross country team turned in their best ever finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday morning here at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course.
 
The Mavericks finished 20^th with 484 points, matching their pre-meet ranking in the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll.  Second-year head coach Travis Floeck's squad was competing as a team at the national meet for just the third time in program history after taking 23^rd last year and 22^nd in 2014.
 
Hodges, running her last cross country race as a Maverick, placed 37^th in 21 minutes, 2.8 seconds, a new 6-kilometer personal best that was 9.9 seconds quicker than her South Central Regional Championship performance two weeks ago in Pueblo, Colorado.  As one of the top 40 individual finishers, Hodges earns USTFCCCA All-America honors and becomes just the third Maverick woman to do so, joining 2-time honoree Alexis Skarda (2008, 2010) and current teammate Kira MacGill (2022).
 
A native of Aurora, Colorado, Hodges was 35th amongst team scorers.
 
Freshman Daisy Lalonde was the Mavs' second runner, placing 111^th in 21:58.7, just 0.6 seconds ahead of redshirt sophomore teammate Jordan Staniszewski, who finished 113^th in 21:59.3.  They were 92nd and 93rd amongst team-scoring runners.
 
Lalonde's time was the best of her season.
 
Junior Autumn McQuitty finished 149^th as the Mavs' fourth runner.  She finished in 22:20.2 and contributed 127 points to the Mavs' team score.  Her time was also the best of the season and 46.1 seconds better than her time at last year's national meet in Sacramento, California.
 

Lauren Hodges, Megan's twin-sister completed the team score with 137 points, placing 159^th overall in 22:24.6, a new career-best.
 
Kate Linstedt (163^rd; 22:26.6) and Quin Gregg (205^th; 22:54.3) were the Mavs' other two runners.
 
National poll No. 1 Grand Valley State won the team title by a narrow 4-point margin over third-ranked Colorado School of Mines, 65-69.  The Mines Orediggers were the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Champions and led three RMAC teams in the top five and five in the top 10 of the 34-team standings. 

The Mavs' national finish capped a strong overall season, which also saw the Mavs record their best RMAC (6th) and regional (7th) championship finishes in 11 years.
 
The RMAC also had seven of the top nine individual finishers in the race, led by Adams State's Tristian Spence, who led the second-ranked Grizzlies to a fourth place team finish with 168 points behind Wingate (131).
 
Wingate won the men's title later in the morning with 62 points, edging Adams State, who had 71.  The Grizzlies did once again have the individual champion in Kidus Begashaw.