Gaston College freshman runner sets another personal best with NJCAA championship finish

Gaston College's Keirieonna Wilson continued her historic freshman cross country season on Saturday with the school's best-ever finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association cross country championships.

Competing at the John Hunt Cross Country Running Park in Huntsville, Ala., Wilson finished 85th out of 180 runners in the Division I meet with a time of 20 minutes, 27.5 seconds. Both her finish and time were school-bests in the event and come in a year in which she was Gaston College's individual medalist in all five races in which she competed.

A South Iredell High product who was the third-place finisher in the Region 10 championships on Oct. 28 with the school-record 20:51.0 clocking, Wilson's time in the national championship was another personal and school best.

"She ran really well," Gaston College coach Kody Kubbs said of Wilson. "She improved her PR (personal record) by 33 seconds at the Region 10 and she bested that by another 24 seconds today. So in the last two races, she's improved her PR by 57 seconds which is absolutely amazing."

Iowa Western Community College's Silvia Gradizzi won the national title with a time of 17:20.9 on the 5,000-meter course.

Champion Spartanburg Methodist was the only team qualifier from Region 10 and the Pioneers finished 24th out of 27 teams with Sophia Outhus's 56th place finish (19:49.0 time) the highest finish by a Region 10 competitor.

A year ago, Highland Tech product Victoria Perez became the school's first ever NJCAA national championship individual participant when she finished 134th out of 183 runners with a time of 23:20.08 at the Appalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

Kubbs, Wilson and freshman runners Abbygale King and Abigale Harris made the trip to the NJCAA national championships. And Kubbs said the goal of the returning runners will be the return to the 2024 championships as a team in addition to top individuals.