JOPLIN, Missouri – A historic freshman campaign wrapped up for Bri Hennett on Saturday as she competed at the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Championships in Joplin, Missouri.

Running the 6K event at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course, Hennett recorded an 88th place finish with a time of 21.28.5 and was the third highest finisher among all other Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runners placing behind Edinboro's Kylie Anic (12th – 20:12.2) and Lock Haven's Elaina Klinger (69th – 21:11.4). Additionally, Hennett notched the fourth-best finish among the Atlantic Region representatives.

Hennett turned in the 18th top-100 performance in program history and had the best finish since 2015 when Allison Decker took 91st.

Hennett, who became ESU's first women's cross country freshman to represent the program as an individual in school history at the NCAA Championships after earning an at-large bid, made a name for herself as one of the top runners in the Atlantic Region following a seventh place finish at the regional championships two weeks ago. The Northumberland native was the lone first-year student to earn a top-10 finish and became the first Warrior to earn All-Region honors since Kaylyn West back in 2017. Additionally, she recorded the highest finish by a freshman in school history, eclipsing 13th place finishes from Georgianna Messinger (1984) and Tina Vosper (1995) in their respective years.

A two-time PSAC Athlete of the Week, Hennett garnered First Team All-PSAC honors after guiding ESU with a fifth place finish overall at the conference championships on October 21. She produced the highest finish by a first-year student in program history as the previous best came from Tina Vosper (7th) at the 1995 PSAC Championships.

Up Next

Hennett and the rest of the Warriors set their sights on the 2023 indoor track and field season as the Warriors get underway on December 8 at the Lehigh Season Opener