On October 27, 2018, both the Cairn University men’s and women’s cross country teams won the Colonial State Athletic Conference (CSAC) championships. This was the women’s first conference championship in school history and the men’s fourth championship (2014–16, 2018).
The women’s team made an incredible jump forward this season, winning the conference after placing sixth just one year ago. Anna Hamm continued her breakout freshman campaign, finishing in 4th place overall in a time of 27:28.3 to lead the Highlanders and finish first-team All-CSAC. Anika Archer (8th), Julia Markey (9th), and Gretchen Shirk (13th) each grabbed a second-team All-CSAC nod after their outstanding performances. Shannon Carney proved a pivotal part of the Highlanders afternoon, outracing her counterpart on the second place Keystone Giants by 10 spots to give Cairn a crucial bump in the team competition.
As a result of this tremendous season, Cairn University’s head men’s and women’s cross country coach, Natalia Parker, was named the 2018 Colonial States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. She will continue to lead these teams as they defend their top spot next season.