SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The third and final trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships was the best one for Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.).

The Bridgewater State University senior cracked the top 50 at the Roger Milliken Research Park on Saturday morning after placing 115th and 145th the last two years.

Cass finished 47th in a field of 290 runners on the six-kilometer race with a time of 22:08.8, roughly six seconds shy of the top 40, which would have gained her All-American status.

As a sophomore in 2023, Cass finished the Newville, Pa., course in 22:49.6 to place 145th out of 293 runners in her NCAA debut.

A year ago in Terre Haute, Ind., Cass was 115th out of 290 runners with a time of 22:27.

Cass continued the trend of lowering her time at the nationals, shaving nearly 41 seconds off her '23 race and 18 seconds off of last year's performance.

The three-time Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference champion was 57th after the first kilometer with a time of 3:19.9.

Cass dropped to 70th place after two kilometers with a time of 6:59.6 and was 71st with a time of 10:46.2 halfway through the race.

The the four-kilometer mark, Css was 64th in 14:26.2 and moved to 58th after five kilometers in 18:22.2.

Cass finished the last kilometer of her final collegiate cross country race in 3:46.6 to jump up into 47th place.

A three-time All-East Region selection, Cass qualified after placing fourth in the region last week with a time of 21:32.2.

Cass is the only BSU women's cross country runner to reach the NCAAs in consecutive seasons.

She will finish her BSU athletics career with the women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams. The indoor season starts on Dec. 6 at the Suffolk Relays at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass.

Junior Audrey Maclean (Tiburon, Calif.) of Middlebury College was first at the NCAAs with a time of 20:16.8.

She was by roughly 49 seconds over junior Jules Bleskoski (Syracuse, N.Y.) of RPI (21:05.1).

New York University won the team championship with 79 points followed by Williams College.

Other New England schools included MIT (fifth), Middlebury (eighth), Tufts (11th), Amherst (16th), Connecticut College (19th), Brandeis (24th), Bowdoin (28th) and Suffolk (30th).

Release courtesy of Bridgewater State Sports Information