Rockhurst women's cross country earned multiple postseason honors following the 2026 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championships on Saturday (Nov. 7), in Springfield, Missouri, highlighted by sophomore Carrington Hessen being named GLVC Runner of the Year.
Hessen earned the conference's top individual honor after capturing the GLVC individual championship with a record-breaking 6,000-meter time of 20:01.86 at Allison Sports Town. Her performance broke the previous GLVC Championship 6K record by 23.15 seconds and made her the first individual GLVC cross country champion in Rockhurst program history.
Hessen finished more than 23 seconds ahead of Southwest Baptist's Natalie Gerdes, who placed second in 20:25.01. The victory also earned Hessen First Team All-GLVC recognition as one of the top finishers in the conference.
Rockhurst finished fourth overall in the 14-team field with 123 points, placing behind Lewis (53), Southwest Baptist (63) and Truman State (106). The Hawks finished ahead of fifth-place Drury (136) and sixth-place Maryville (140).
Freshman Natalie Hawthorne joined Hessen in earning All-GLVC honors after finishing 17th overall with a time of 21:35.68. Hawthorne's performance gave Rockhurst two All-Conference selections at the championship meet.
The Hawks also received recognition through the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award, with Grace Kaiser selected as Rockhurst's women's cross country honoree.
The award recognizes student-athletes who demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship, ethical behavior, good academic standing and citizenship outside of athletic competition. Kaiser is now eligible for consideration as one of Rockhurst's two institutional James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the conclusion of the academic year.
Hessen's Runner of the Year recognition headlines a strong championship showing for Rockhurst, which placed two runners among the conference's top 20 while securing a fourth-place team finish.
The Hawks' postseason honors include Hessen's GLVC Runner of the Year award and individual championship, All-GLVC recognition for Hessen and Hawthorne, and Kaiser's James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honor.
