KELOWNA, B.C. – Trinity Western's Constance Nankivell won a silver medal at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships to cap an incredible season for the Scottish sensation Saturday at Mission Recreation Park. 

Nankivell finished the eight-kilomtre race in 26:42 as she was bettered only by UBC Okanagan's Lauren McNeil. With the second place finish, Nankivell becomes just the third Spartan to medal at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships, joining current TWU coach Sarah Inglis, who won gold in 2015, and Declan White, who earned silver in 2016. 

Nankivell finished first or second in each of her five races this season, winning the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational, the Bill Roe Classic and the Canada West Championships. McNeil and Nankivell dueled for top spot in each of their last three races, with McNeil winning the Stewart Cup and Nankivell winning the Canada West Championships.

Naomi Reisdorf finished 81st as the Spartans only other runner in the women's race, with a time of 29:38. 

On the men's side Yemane Mulugeta earned U SPORTS Rookie of the Year honours by finishing fourth overall with a time of 23:34. Mulugeta becomes the first Spartan ever win the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year award in cross country. Justin Kiplagat was the Spartans second best male runner on the day, finishing 23rd in 24:04, to help lead TWU's men's team to an 11th place finish in the team standings. The second-year Kiplagat bettered his position from last year by 23 spots, having finished 46th overall. David Mutai also had a huge improvement on the leaderboard, moving up from 98th last year to 56th this year. 

For their performances, both Nankivell and Mulugeta earned U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian honours and Mulugeta was also named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team. 

TWU Results
Women 
2nd – Constance Nankivell – 26:42
81st – Naomi Reisdorf – 29:38

Men 
4th – Yemane Mulugeta – 23:34
23rd – Justin Kiplagat – 24:04
56th – David Mutai – 24:38
107th – Daniel Toneguzzi – 25:20
115th – Malcolm Reid – 25:33 
128th – Elijah Headley – 25:56
139th – Brendan O'Brien – 26:15 

QUOTABLE
Shane Wiebe, TWU Head Coach
"What a magnificent day. I can't argue when every single athlete had huge personal bests. A big shout out is most deserved for coaches Andrew (Lenton) and Sarah (Inglis) who, together, readied this team and brought out the best in everyone. It's so nice, too, to have such a large group of fans along the sidelines cheering on our athletes. Again, we couldn't be happier with our performances today."

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  

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