UAF’s Kendall Kramer, a Fairbanks standout, closed out her collegiate cross country career by finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday, clocking in at 20 minutes, 30.7 seconds on the 6-kilometer course in Sacramento, California, according to Alaska News Source.
Kramer’s second-place finish is the highest placement in Nanook history and earned her third All-American honor after winning the GNAC championship and finishing second at the NCAA West Regional Championships earlier this year, capping off of her impressive career.
“It seemed so out of reach, especially for our school,” Kramer said in a GNAC press release. “It’s so awesome to be taken so seriously and to show what we are capable of even though we have less than ideal training conditions; we have been indoors for two months. It gives a lot of faith to our team and I knew I was capable of this, but was going to be happy with however it played out.”
Kramer made her name during tenure at West Valley High School fame. Kramer was a three-time Alaska Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year and Junior World Champion medalist skier who garnered plenty of offers from a number of colleges, but opted to remain at home to represent Fairbanks and help transform the UAF cross country running and skiing programs at the university.
Tabitha Williams (132nd), Lucca Duke (146th), Teegan Silva (171st) and Hazel Probst (251st) were the other Nanooks to compete during Saturday’s race.
“I just wanted to soak in all that nationals was and just let the crowd and group I was chasing carry me through to the end,” Kramer said in a UAF presser. “As we were approaching 2k left, I was feeling good and realized I could step it up and just kept picking off the girls as they strung out, surprising myself. Thanks to Rosie for picking up the pace so they got tired out.”

