The women's cross country team at Wayland Baptist placed two athletes in the top six at the 29th Annual NAIA Women's Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at Kenosha, Wis., helping the team capture its second sixth place finish in as many years.

Freshman Purity Biwott ran a 17:21.7 to cross the finish line at the national meet in fifth place, while teammate Caroline Karunde, a sophomore, was right behind her in sixth with a time of 17:23.8. Indiana Tech's Alissa McKaig won the individual title with a 16:41.4.

Biwott, who was a NAIA All-American last spring in both indoor and outdoor track, earned her first cross country NAIA All-American award, while Karunde was named to the All-American team for the second straight year.

Coach Brian Whitlock was a little disappointed that his team was unable to finish in the top four in order to bring home WBU's first-ever trophy from the NAIA Championship, but the fifth-year coach said that he couldn't have asked for much more from his seven women.

"We knew going in that everyone would probably have to better their PR's (personal records) in order to get in the top four. We essentially matched those times, and were just 20 points out of fourth place. Purity may have been affected a little by the cold, and Caroline didn't feel 100 percent, but they both still turned in really good times.

"These were by far the fastest times I have ever witnessed at the national meet, and I've been coming for the last eight or nine years. Erin (Britton) ran the same time as she did last year (18:27.4) when she placed 34th, and this year she was 47th. It took an 18:07 to earn All-American honors today. This was just a phenomenal field."

Whitlock's number four runner, red-shirt freshman Selené Lopez ran an 18:45.3 to finish 67th. Senior Elva Pedroza was 138th with a time of 19:19.7, while Kydia Echols, also a senior, ran a 19:46.5 and freshman Katie Roland completed the 5K course with a time of 20:01.6.

Azusa Pacific University, ranked 2nd in the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, captured the team title with 66 points and a team average of 17:42. Top ranked Cedarville University was second with 97 points and an average of 18:06. The Pioneers had 181 points and a team average of 18:16.

Freshman Luis Pena, the lone representative off the Pioneer men's team, ran a very respectable 26:17.6 to finish 124th.