For the first time in school history, Montreat College earned a spot on the national championship scoreboard by collecting two points for Talisa Bishop's seventh place marathon finish. Bishop led all Montreat performers by completing her first marathon in 3:19:10. Out of 126 colleges and universities represented at the NAIA national championships, Montreat College tied for 55^th. Bishop's seventh place finish was just one spot from becoming an All-American.

Wayland Baptist won the women's team championship with a total of 102 points, followed by Oklahoma Baptist and Lindenwood University with 58 and 52 points, respectively.

On the men's side, Azusa Pacific once again won the team title with 80 points, just nine points ahead of sprinting-powerhouse Dickinson State.

With hot and humid conditions, Montreat's marathon team of Ben Hall, Wilbourn Kosgei, Lindsay Mizok, Arilicia Adkins and Talisa Bishop found it very difficult to compete at their highest potential. With 74 marathoners entered in the Saturday morning event, 19 found the conditions too difficult to complete the race. Heat exhaustion and dehydration were the main causes of the 19 athletes that dropped out of the rolling 26.2 mile race.

Of those 19 that did not finish the marathon two were Cavaliers- Wilbourn Kosgei and freshman Lindsay Mizok. Kosgei competed well on Thursday in the 800m preliminaries; however, he did not advance to the semi-finals on Friday. His preliminary time of 1:55.30 ranks as the second fastest 800m in Montreat's track records. Kosgei who qualified for both the 800m and the marathon, managed to complete 15 miles of the marathon before having to pull out.

Lindsay Mizok was struck with a stomach virus once she arrived in St. Louis. She managed to complete 19 miles of the grueling course before having to stop due to stomach problems.

Ben Hall and Arilicia Adkins withstood the elements and completed the full marathon by finishing 22^nd and 24^th place respectively. Adkins once again ran a more conservative race which allowed her to complete her second consecutive marathon at the national championships.

"I knew I wasn't going to run as fast as last year, with the conditions, but I did know that I was going to finish and represent Montreat on the results," said Adkins about this year's race.

"It was a tough day for the marathon this year," said Coach Larios, "those that finished did so only because of being patient in the early miles or just gutting it out through complete determination. I'm really proud of all our runners, even those that couldn't make it to the finish line."

Ben Hall stopped just before the 25 mile marker due to heavy cramping in his hamstrings. He was forced to take a few minutes to stretch out and catch back up to a few of the places he lost while he was stretching.

"I started praying and asking God to help me loosen my hamstrings. I asked him to help me get to the finish line. I know I couldn't have made it without him," said Hall. "Today was really tough mentally and physically."

Bypassing her college graduation ceremony, in order to compete at the national championship, Talisa Bishop capped off a stellar collegiate career by finishing seventh overall, her highest national finish on record. Bishop was in fifth place at the 23^rd mile marker and was poised for a remarkable top-6 All-American award. But, due to fatigue and the conditions, she was overtaken in the final two miles of the grueling race.

"We are all so proud of Talisa. She put herself in the perfect position for an All-American spot, but anything can happen in the marathon especially in the final few miles, as was the case for her. She was completely exhausted throughout the final six miles. She was determined to finish," said Larios. "This is a great way to end her collegiate career. I'm sure she will continue to pursue the marathon in her post collegiate life."

Talisa leaves Montreat as the most decorated distance runner on record. She competed at the cross country, indoor and outdoor national championships multiple times and currently holds the cross country and 5K and 10K school records.