The Colorado College women's cross country team entered the 2018 season with very high expectations. With a nice blend of veteran leadership and talented newcomers, the Tigers were excited about the possibility of unseating Trinity University as SCAC champions.
 
Unfortunately, due to untimely injuries to three of the team's top five runners, CC couldn't get past Trinity and finished second at the SCAC meet. Even with senior Alysa Warling and junior Brier Youngfleish out, the Tigers still placed four runners in the top 10 and had another join the four on the all-conference squad.
 
Freshman Megan Koch, the 2018 Newcomer of the Year, led the Tigers with a fourth-place result, covering the 6k course in a personal-best time of 23 minutes, 30 seconds, two seconds ahead of senior Leah Veldhuisen, who placed fifth and earned a spot on the all-SCAC team for the third consecutive year.
 
Senior Meghan Tanel earned her first career all-conference honor by finishing seventh in 23:43, eclipsing her personal-best time by one second. Sophomore Lily O'Dowd placed ninth for her first career all-SCAC honor with a season-best time of 23:55. Freshman Lucy Wagner was CC's other all-conference performer after finishing 11th with a time of 24:10. Sophomores Gilian Foley and Alexia Preston just missed all-conference by finishing 15th and 16th, respectively.
 
Two weeks later, the Tigers finished eighth at the West Region meet, with Veldhuisen (28^th) and Koch (34^th) earning all-region honors.
 
Warling led the team in the first three meets of the season, but was unable to compete the rest of the season. She finished third at the CC Invitational, leading the Tigers to an impressive second-place finish against mostly Division II teams. Youngfleish, meanwhile, also ran in only the first three meets. Preston was the only runner on the team to compete in the maximum-allowed seven meets.
 
"With just two seniors this season, the future is very bright for this team," head coach Ted Castaneda said.
 
 
2018 Women's Cross Country Awards
Most Valuable Runner – Leah Veldhuisen
Most Improved Runner – Meghan Tanel and Halle White
Rookie Award – Megan Koch
Most Inspirational Award – Alexia Preston
SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team – Gillian Foley