LAWRENCE, KS- Arizona Christian University had three runners compete in the blistering cold weather Saturday morning, as Senior Brooks Swigart, Sophomore Chris Bates, and Freshman Kaylee Franks ran as individuals in the 2013 NAIA Cross Country National Championship.

"It is a huge accomplishment to make it to this meet," said Head Coach Caleb Lynch. "Before the gun went off I was very proud of everyone from my team that made it no matter what the outcome was. Today was a huge shock to us Arizona runners as we were extremely under-prepared to run in freezing temperatures, but went out and competed well."

In 2011, Swigart became ACU's first NAIA national cross country qualifier and the first NAIA national qualifier in any of ACU's athletic programs since the school joined the NAIA in 2008. There were 313 runners in the men's 8k event and the weather conditions dropped to 19 degrees at the start of the race. To make matters worse Swigart lost his shoe in the first half mile, but showed courage and adversity as he finished the race with a time of 26:37.25 and took 188th. This was Bates first time running in the NAIA meet and he placed 237th with a time of 27:12.50, while becoming the second runner on the men's side to qualify for the national meet.

"Brooks showed a lot of courage today as he ran four miles in extremely cold conditions with one shoe," said Lynch. "Not the way he wanted to end his running career, but showed a lot of adversity by finishing the race. This was the last race that Brooks will run for ACU and I could not have asked for a better leader. He led this team the last three years incredibly well and the program will never be the same without him. As a coach you only get a "Brooks Swigart" a couple times a career and I will miss his contribution immensely."

Meanwhile, in the women's 5k, Franks was the lone qualifier on the women's side for ACU as she finished 106th with a time of 19:14.43. Franks becomes the first NAIA national cross country qualifier in the women's cross country program. There were 319 competitors on the women's side.

"Both Kaylee and Chris started a bit too far back and had a hard time moving up in the race," said Lynch. "This was both their first time racing in a meet of this magnitude and will use it to propel them to the next level. It takes several visits to a meet like this to be successful at the national meet and both Kaylee and Chris have many more years to improve on their performance."