With back-to-back River States Conference Championship Runner-Up finishes in the bag in both 2023 and 2024, the Shawnee State women's cross country program is looking to take the next step forward with a strong nucleus of eight runners returning -- and eight runners coming in.
Two of the team's best over the last two years --
Olivia Cisco and
Jessica Elick -- are expected to be at top form throughout much of the season, and the duo, as a result, have been named to the RSC Runners to Watch list, as announced by conference officials Wednesday afternoon.
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A terrific distance runner who has earned First-Team All-RSC honors in each of the last three seasons as a cross country runner in the RSC realm (2022 for Rio Grande and 2023 and 2024 for Shawnee State), Shawnee State's
Olivia Cisco returns as the conference's runner-up finish and the women's cross country program's lone NAIA National Qualifier from 2024.
Cisco, who ran a personal best 22:14.2 at the 2024 River States Conference Championship Meet, followed up her runner-up finish by posting another personal best of 22:11 at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships last November, placing 52nd and finishing as the top River States Conference runner at the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship as a result. Cisco also qualified in the 2025 NAIA Women's Indoor Track and Field (5,000 meter run) and Outdoor Track and Field National Championships (10,000 meter run).
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Consistently placing among the top-two finishers at every meet throughout her sophomore campaign,
Jessica Elick has improved her 6K time by over 1 minute, 50 seconds from the start of her career in September 2023 to last October's RSC Championship Meet, running a 24:07 in the 6K to set a personal best and finish 10th — good for Second-Team All-RSC honors.
Elick is among the best of the lot on a squad that returns each of its nine runners from the 2024 unit and adds in eight newcomers to make up a women's cross country roster full of depth.
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