Rookie of the Year for Shinn

CCS Release
Complete Results

CLINTON, Miss. – A season of progress for women's cross country saw Maryville improve its standing in the most important meet of the year.
 
The Scots placed two runners inside the top 10, produced the Rookie of the Year and finished fifth as a team at Friday's Collegiate Conference of the South Championships. Maryville was picked to finish sixth in the preseason.
 
Megan Shinn finished fourth individually and Isabelle Juda was 10th. Shinn in her debut season earned Rookie of the Year and All-CCS First Team honors, while Juda is an All-CCS Second Team selection. This is Juda's third consecutive season as an All-League selection.
 
"The team left the course today with a rookie of the year award, one All-Conference First Team award, one All-Conference Second Team award, every runner posting a personal record or season best, and the team scoring better than our preseason ranking," Maryville head coach Kaitlyn Carringer-Adams said. "Overall, a great day of progress for our program."
 
Shinn's time of 25:07.89 was a PR and earned her the seventh-best time for the 6K in Maryville Women's Cross Country history. It's also the best individual placement the program has had at the league championship since Lea Mulligan finished second in 2019. Juda's time was 25:32.30.
 
"I've been telling Izzy and Megan all season that their goal was to both be in the top 12 at conference to earn All-Conference awards," Carringer-Adams said. "We all knew it would be tough for them to do because based off the other conference runners' stats this year, Izzy was unofficially ranked 12th and Megan 13th, with lots of runners all around their time.
 
"Their goal was to stay with the top pack and to just compete. After seeing both Izzy and Megan come through the first mile, I knew as long as they stayed tough in the race that they could both do it. To add to the All-Conference awards, Megan also earning Rookie of the Year is very deserving because she has progressed so much this year and has had a great season overall."
 
The Scots Stepped Up
Carringer-Adams said the team's focus was on placing better than last year and to beat the preseason ranking.
 
"To do that, each athlete had specific runners they needed to pass," Carringer-Adams said. "They did just that and earned PRs while doing so."
 
Maryville runners finished 44th, 45th and 46th, led by Madison Smith crossing in 33:23.58. RaeEllen Coffey was next in 34:02.88, followed by Kaitlyn Smith in 34:06.65. Alicia Perez was close behind in 48th place with a time of 34:43.17.
 
Smith also earned CCS All-Sportsmanship Team honors after being nominated by the Maryville coaching staff.
 
"Madison was elected the team captain earlier this season by her fellow athletes, and one of those reasons was because of her sportsmanship and cheerful outlook toward her teammates," Carringer-Adams said. "Whether it's a 6:30 a.m. practice, during a tough workout, or any condition, Madison is there cheering and uplifting the team."