COLUMBIA, Mo. – Carly Henderson and Kara Muller capped fantastic freshman seasons by competing well Friday in the 45^th-annual NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

On the 6,000-meter (3.73 mile) course, Henderson used a strong kick to finish 183^rd among the 327 entries in 23 minutes, 26.7 seconds. Muller finished in 241^st, clocking 24:05.7.

"I was extremely proud of the effort that Carly and Kara gave,'' CSM Coach Derek Fey said. "It was a great experience for both of them and will pay dividends in the future.

"Carly picked off 22 runners in the final 1,000 meters, which was a fantastic finish to a great race. Kara has been dealing with a respiratory illness for several weeks and I was impressed with her continued resiliency.''

The Master's University of Santa Clarita, Calif., edged Taylor University of Upland, Ind., 92-93 for team honors in the closest finish in NAIA women's history. The individual champion was freshman Jaynie Halterman of Taylor in a record time of 20:24.7.

Great Plains Athletic Conference champion Dordt University finished 11^th among the 35 team entries. In all, 94 schools had at least one entry in the field.

A large contingent of CSM cross country athletes made the five-hour, one-way trip to support Henderson and Muller.

"To have a bunch of their teammates drive down to cheer them on was a great reflection of the culture of this program,'' Fey said. "They should have been on that starting line today with them, but I know it gave them a spark.''

Henderson, an Oakland, Iowa, native who was a five-sport standout at Riverside High School, moved up 30 spots over the final 2,000 meters.

Fey said her finish was a microcosm of the charge his program made this season.

"I'm looking forward to the next few of these national meets and hopefully their teammates are with them next year, running,'' he said.