PELLA, Iowa - The Wartburg women's cross country team earned a second consecutive American Rivers Conference title Saturday afternoon on the campus of Central College, compiling a team score of 24 points for the program's 17th championship.

Aubrie Fisher (So., Ackley) led the Knights with an MVP finish, winning the six-kilometer race with a time of 21:56.85. Seven Knights received All-Conference laurels with top-15 finishes to tie a Wartburg school record, contributing to the best team finish since 2012 with 24 points.

"It doesn't happen a lot that the men and women win on the same day, it's pretty exciting," said head coach Ryan Chapman.

Fisher finished seven seconds ahead of the runner-up, Kassie Rosenbum from Loras College. Wartburg's Carina Collet (Sr., Verona, Ill.), the former two-time A-R-C MVP, trailed and finished in third place, clocking a time of 22:25.

The trio of Fisher, Rosenbum, and Collet were neck and neck until the three-mile mark when Fisher began to pull away and eventually claim her first career conference crown.

In addition, three Knights finished inside the top-10 along with the 11th and 12th place times. Shaelyn Hostager (5th/23:10), Alexis Brown (7th/23:18), Janelle Baeskens (8th/23:35), Natalie Paulson (11th/23:45) and Trinity Borland (12th/23:47) earned all-conference honors.

 "There's so many little intangibles that go into this sport," Chapman commented. "We're feeling really good about the day for sure. A lot of young men and women came together and we definitely left feeling that we had a pretty special season."

Wartburg's Ryan Chapman and Phil Spitzer were named the Coaching Staff of the Year. 
 

MVP's Aubrie Fisher and Joe Freiburger along with Coaching Staff of the Year, Coach Chapman and Spitzer. #GoKnights pic.twitter.com/I49bclnjCm

— Wartburg Athletics (@WartburgKnights) November 7, 2020