After finishing a program-best fourth place last season at the NCAA Championships, the West Virginia cross country team had hopes of improving on that performance this season.
The Mountaineers returned three all-Americans and were poised to contend for the National Championship again.
However, the Mountaineers came up short in their quest for a national title by finishing sixth with 259 points.
Despite the sixth place finish, WVU head coach Sean Cleary said it was still a successful season.
"Coming into the season, we had dedicated ourselves to a higher finish," Cleary said. "But as the Championship came closer and various sicknesses impacted the team, we knew that the only thing we could do was to worry about ourselves and let the chips fall where they may.
"To know that we lost to only five teams in the country is a very satisfying performance."
This was the third consecutive year West Virginia competed at the NCAA National Championships.
Big East Conference rival Villanova won the title (86), and Florida State (133) finished in second. Washington (188) rounded out the top three with Texas Tech (199) and regional rival Princeton (251) finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Senior Clara Grandt took home 13th place with a time of 20:19. Seniors Marie Louise Asseslin (20:43) and Keri Bland (20:45) finished 31st and 34th, respectively.
All three efforts were good enough for all-American honors for the second-consecutive year.
"To have three all-Americans on one team is truly remarkable," Cleary said. "This distinction was only given to four teams in the entire country."
Also adding strong performances were sophomores Kaylyn Christopher (21:21) and Kate Harrison (21:25). Christopher finished 87th and Harrison 94th.
Sarah-Anne Brault (21:54) finished 145th, and Ahna Lewis (22:13) finished 174th.
There were 254 total runners at the event. Cleary attributes his team’s overall success to the stiff competition the team has dealt with all season long.
"Without question, being a member of the Big East Conference allows our coaches and athletes to embrace that the front of the Big East correlates with the front of the NCAA Championships," he said. "When you’re at the front of the Big East, you can challenge anyone in the country."
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