LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Indiana Wesleyan University earned a 19th place finish today at the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championship held at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas.

The 19th place finish is the best for the Wildcats since a ninth place finish in 2009.

Taylor Hite (SR/Ligonier, Ind.) captured a top-50 finish in the 336-runner race. Hite placed 48th overall with a time of 18 minutes 53 seconds on the 5,000-meter course.

The next three Wildcats were bunched in a pack and finished within one second of each other. Isabel Wharton (JR/Laurel, Del.) led the pack with a time of 19:39 for 131st place. Sarah McBeath (SO/LeHigh Acres, Fla.) was 133th place and Brooke Horswell (JR/Charleston, W.Va.) was 134th place as each crossed the finish line in 19:40. Kailynne Tangeman (SR/Marysville, Ohio) was the final scorer for the Wildcats with a 191st place finish in a time of 20:00.

Rounding out the top-seven for Indiana Wesleyan were Katherine Arch (JR/Iowa City, Iowa) and Amanda Wolfe (SR/Marion, Ind.). Arch was 200th in 20:07 while Wolfe was 286th in 21:17.

British Columbia (B.C.) won their third straight national championship with 43 points. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) was runner-up at 141 points and Northwest Christian (Ore.) took third place at 181 points. Indiana Wesleyan scored 492 points for the 19th place finish. There were a total of 38 teams competing at the national championship.