Leah Wessler ’17

After just missing a national qualifying spot in 2015, the women’s cross country team was hungry in 2016.  With the majority of the team returning, the possibility of a high national finish became a reality with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Championship Meet in Louisville, Kentucky, in November.

Leah Wessler ’17 and Katie Sandfort ’17 capped their careers with All-America status by placing 22nd and 26th, respectively. Both runners broke the school record for a 6K race as Wessler’s time of 21:09.4 and Sandfort’s 21:13.1 surpassed the previous record of 21:41 set by Erin Morrow ’15 in 2012.

Katie Sandfort ’17

They also became the first pair of CC runners to gain All-America status since Gretchen Griddle ’00 (22nd) and Andrea Godsman ’99 (24th) in 1997. Wessler’s 22nd-place finish was CC’s best at the national meet since Megan Klish ’01 placed 18th in 1998.

A month earlier, Wessler captured her third consecutive individual title and the Tigers breezed to their third straight team title at the SCAC Championship. The Tigers had seven runners finish in the top eight.

Wessler became just the third female runner in league history to win three straight individual titles. She covered the 6k course in 21 minutes, 54.16 seconds, finishing 40 seconds ahead of Sandfort, who placed second with a time of 22:34.52.

To complete the season, Ted Castaneda was named the SCAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season.

Meanwhile, CC’s volleyball program built upon its tradition of excellence and provided a promising glimpse of what the future holds.

With a starting lineup that regularly features two sophomores, two juniors, and three freshmen, the Tigers finished the campaign with a 28-6 record, advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship, and earned the program’s highest-ever ranking, checking in at No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Coaches Top-25 Poll.

CC recorded five victories over opponents ranked among the top 25 in the AVCA poll, including a triumph over No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Athenas became the highest-ranked opponent defeated by the Tigers during head coach Rick Swan’s 19-year tenure.

Colorado College cruised to a 16-1 record at Reid Arena and won all three of its regular-season tournaments. The Tigers won 11 consecutive home matches before falling to Division II Colorado Christian University in four sets.

Abbe Holtze ’17

That season-long performance helped CC finish the year ranked ninth in the final AVCA Division III poll. In addition, outside hitter Abbe Holtze ’17 cemented her status as one of the most decorated players in the 38-year history of CC volleyball by earning first-team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the second year in a row.