NEW ORLEANS – After posting one of the most notable finishes in an NCAA championship event to win the national title, University of Mary runner Alexis Zeis was named the 2015 U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women's National Athlete of the Year for the NCAA Division II cross country season.
 
Here is how the USTFCCCA recounted Zeis' championship season:
 
"How close was Zeis' victory Saturday in Joplin over reigning national champion Kendra Foley of Grand Valley State? By the clock it was just .04 with the sophomore from Bismarck, North Dakota, crossing the line on the 6K course in 20:03.4, but there's larger context for it. Not only was it by far the closest and most dramatic individual title race in any of the three NCAA Divisions, but it was also one of the tightest finishes in NCAA DII history. Since DII switched to the 6K in 1998, no championship race had been decided by fewer than three seconds.
 
"Zeis ran at or near the front all throughout the 6K race, coming through the halfway point as part of a group of 10 runners that had broken away. The closing kilometer saw her and Foley start to pull away from that group, running side-by-side and trading the lead back-and-forth. It came down to a kick on the homestretch, where Zeis was able to find just enough of an extra gear to just beat Foley to the line.
 
"The national title caps a five-win undefeated season for Zeis, who also emerged victorious with big wins at the Central Regional, the NSIC Championships, and the Roy Griak Invitational."
 
A sophomore from Bismarck, N.D., Zeis led U-Mary to 12^th place at the national championship. She is the second Marauders runner to win an NCAA cross country championship, following Jennifer Agnew's title in 2013.
 
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