SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Today the Calvin women's cross country team capped off its 2025 season with a 21st place finish in the NCAA III Championships. Coming into the meet the Knights were ranked No.24 and posted a team score of 521 to jump up in the rankings.
 
Senior Sophie Bull (Denver, Colo./Denver Christian) put an exclamation point on her outstanding Calvin career as she took fifth place with a time of 21:17.5. Her fifth-place finish matches the second-best individual national finish in Calvin women's cross country history with Renea Bluekamp (1991) and Betsy Haverkamp (1995) also placing fifth. 
 
Junior Hailey Erickson (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) was the next Knight to cross the finish line with a time of 23:15.8 (161st)  while freshman Ayla Holben (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) crossed close behind at 23:16.7 (165th).
 
Senior Catie Kramer (Pickering, Ontario/Dunbarton) and freshman Emma Wierenga (Grafton, Mass./Whitinsville Christian) rounded out the scoring for the Knights when they finished with times of 23:22.8 (187th) and 23:36.3 (209th), respectively.
 
Freshman Brynn Ellenbecker (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park) placed 235th (23:55.8) and sophomore Alexis Ball (Grand Rapids, Mich. Traverse City Central)  finished 236th (23:56.6) as they also competed in the field for the Knights although their scores did not contribute to the overall team score.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "We're elated about how our women battled out there today," said head coach Nicole Kramer. "We over-performed our ranking, and stayed determined to make consistent moves as a back pack. In the midst of the toughest point of the race, with the sun beating down, we moved up five big team places between the 4k and 5k and refused to give up. This meet requires a ton of mental fortitude, and each athlete embraced the conditions while staying mentally engaged for the team the whole way through.

Sophie performed better than anyone outside of our program expected, and she was ready to shine! We wanted her to simply trust her instincts, and in her fourth national meet she put herself into perfect position by staying patient early on when the race got out hot.

Sophie has fine-tuned her ability to get the most out of herself in every race, and she led the way for her teammates by picking people off throughout the race, including 10 runners in the last 1000 meters of the race. It has been a joy to see Sophie trust the process these past four years.

We have enjoyed the sweet redemption in the last two weeks of the season where she was focused on finishing her cross country career in the best way possible. Winning a regional title followed by a top-5 finish in the nation is incredible. She is an excellent leader who has bought in from day one when she arrived on campus as a freshman far from home. There could be no sweeter way for her to finish up her cross country career for the Knights!"