By Anna-Jo Stuart, Reporter

Photos courtesy of aqsaints.com

Nov. 3 was a beautiful day for the Cross-Country WHAC Championships. The Aquinas men and women both ran a great race and are going to nationals.

The men’s team finished first out of 11 teams. Behind them respectively were Cornerstone, Madonna, Siena Heights, and in fifth Indiana Tech. The men’s victory can be attributed to seven of their runners finishing in the top fifteen, with Joey Ciaravino leading the pack and finishing in fifth spot.

After the conference, the men’s team is now ranked 9th heading into nationals on Friday, Nov. 16. The team feels “positive” going into nationals, and hope for a satisfactory end to the season.

The girls came out with a 2nd place finish at this meet. They were slightly disappointed with this but acknowledged that Madonna ran a strong race for the win. Sophomore Kaela Frailing said that the outcome of this meet “definitely humbled us and made us more hungry to get out to nationals and do really well.”

The women are ranked 5th in the nation, and with the top 5 teams close to each other in talent, the National Championship could go to anyone of them this year. The girls are ready for nationals and are confident it will be their best race this season.

Overall, both teams are set to make waves at nationals, and make Aquinas proud.