LOUISVILLE, Ky.— The California women's cross country team finished in 22nd place in their first NCAA Championship berth in six years as they took on the nation's best at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. 
 
The Championship was moved up due to the threat of severe weather, but that didn't faze the Bears as they finished one spot ahead of their ranking in the USFTCCCA Poll.  
 
The women were led by Bethan Knights and Brie Oakley, who both ran with the lead pack the entire race. Knights and Oakley ran together the entire race, holding steady in their places through all splits and finished only seconds apart. Knights finished in 23rd place (20:02.52), her career-best NCAA Championship finish, and Oakley finished her first NCAA Championship race in 38th (20:10.21). With her finish, Oakley had the second fastest freshman finish, only behind Weini Kelati of New Mexico (19:35.8). 
 
California's scoring runners were rounded out by a 192nd place finish from Marissa Williams (21:29.64), a 194th place finish from Jordyn Colter (21:32.30), and 206th place finish from Annie Boos (21:41.78). The Bears also ran redshirt freshman Chloe Hansel, who finished 213th overall (21:41.78) and sophomore Marissa Dobry (22:05.17).
 
The Bears finish the season as the 22nd team overall, after coming into the season unranked and receiving no votes in USTFCCCA polls. For their finishes today, Brie Oakley and Bethan Knights received All-American awards, given to the top 40 individual runners each year. 

"Today was a good day," cross country coach Shayla Houlihan said. "The women fought tough through the strong competition to place 22nd. The whole year our goal has been to finish ahead of our rankings and once again we were able to do that. Knights and Oakley led the way with two top-40, All-American finishes. They ran incredibly smart and used each other's momentum to push towards the finish line together. Brie, once again, was the first true Freshman to cross the finish line."
 
The men's team also sent two individuals to the NCAA Championship. Seniors Garrett Corcoran and Trent Brendel used their knowledge of this course to finish in 140th (31:02.58) and 165th place (31:15.95). Two years ago on the same course, Corcoran placed 216th with a time of 32:18.5. Brendel bettered his time from 2015 when he crossed the line in 31:23.9. 

"Corcoran and Brendel had decent days today coming off very hard efforts at the Regional meet 8 days prior," Houlihan said. "These experiences will be invaluable to all of them as we move into track season and beyond. I'm proud of what these athletes have been able to do this season. The support and positive experiences they've been fortunate to experience have been above anything we could have asked for. The team is very grateful for the support of alumni that have continually reached out week after week, our sponsor Under Armour  and all other entities that have continually backed us the entire season."
 
Keep updated on all things Cal cross country by following the team on Twitter (@CalTFXC), Instagram (@CalTFXC) and on Facebook (CalTFXC).  
 
Women
California- 22nd - 530 (18-28-156-158-170-176-194)

Individual Finishers
Bethan Knights- 23rd (20:02.52)
Brie Oakley- 38th (20:10.21)
Marissa Williams- 192nd (21:29.64)
Jordyn Colter- 194th (21:32.30)
Annie Boos- 206th (21:41.78)
Chloe Hansel- 213th (21:41.78)
Marissa Dobry- 232nd (22:05.17)
 
Men
Individual Finishers
Garrett Corcoran- 140th (31:02.58)
Trent Brendel- 165th (31:15.95)