Vancouver, Wash. - Viterbo University Women's Cross Country runners Bea Foley (So. - Greenville, Wis.) and Rosemary Loken (Fr. - La Crosse, Wis.) competed in the 2009 NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet presented by Nike, at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.

In the women's championship race, a star-studded field of 330 student-athletes competed over the 5-kilometer course. A Midwest Collegiate Conference first team selection, Foley finished in 20:02, taking 118^th place. Not far behind Foley, fellow Midwest Collegiate Conference first team selection Loken finished in 20:47 to take 215^th place.

"Their times were slower than expected due to the muddy course today" Cross Country Head Coach John Metelko said. "Bea and Rosemary really competed well. Some athletes are happy just to make a championship race, our ladies showed that they weren't just happy to be there and really competed, representing themselves and Viterbo well. Bea ran in the top third of the field for most of the race and Rosemary finished ahead of some runners who she had been behind all season."

Foley and Loken qualified for the National Championships by placing second and seventh overall in the MCC Championships. Besides this being their first National Championship appearance in cross country, they are the first two women's cross country runners from Viterbo to reach the National Championship.

The women's Individual Champion was Justyna Mudy of Shorter College (Ga.) who ran a time of 17:30. Cal St. San Marcos captured the 2009 NAIA Team Championship with 137 points, outdistancing runner-up Biola University by 3 points.

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