Doan Earns All-America Honors with 28th-Place NCAA XC Finish

Liberty’s Calli Doan became an All-American for the first time at Saturday morning’s 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. She placed 28^th in the women’s 6K with a program-record time of 19:50.6 at Apalachee Regional Park.

After going through the halfway mark in 72^nd place, Doan steadily moved up during the final 3K to become the ASUN Conference’s first-ever women’s cross country All-American. The Apex, N.C., native is Liberty’s second NCAA Division I women’s cross country All-American, joining Ednah Kurgat (2015).

Doan became the first Lady Flame ever to break 20:00 in a cross country 6K. The previous program record of 20:04.9 was set by teammate Adelyn Ackley on the same course at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals on Oct. 15.

Up front, BYU’s Whittni Orton claimed the individual title in 19:25.4. However, her team was denied a repeat national championship as No. 1 NC State topped No. 4 BYU, 84-122, for its first NCAA national title.

Women’s Team Results (31 Total Teams):

1) No. 1 NC State – 84

2) No. 4 BYU – 122

3) No. 2 New Mexico – 130

4) No. 3 Colorado – 187

5) No. 10 Notre Dame – 215

Women’s 6K Individual Results (250 Total Finishers):

1) Whittni Orton, BYU – 19:25.4 (All-America)

2) Mercy Chelangat, Alabama – 19:29.3 (All-America)

3) Ceili McCabe, West Virginia – 19:29.5 (All-America)

4) Cailie Logue, Iowa State – 19:29.8 (All-America)

5) Taylor Roe, Oklahoma State – 19:33.5 (All-America)

28) Calli Doan, Liberty – 19:50.6 (All-America, Program Record)

Race Reactions

• Doan moved up from 72^nd place at the 3K mark to 55^th at 4K, 40^th at 5K and 28^th at the finish line. She saved her fastest kilometer (3:11.2) for last.
• The only Lady Flame ever to place higher at this meet was Kurgat, who came in 12^th in 2015.
• Doan improved from an 85^th-place finish at the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which were contested on March 15, 2021 in Stillwater, Okla. She joined her coach—Heather (Sagan) Zealand in 2000 and 2001—as the only Lady Flames ever to make multiple appearances at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
• Doan has now set a new 6K personal best three times at Apalachee Regional Park in 2021. She ran 20:38.9 at the FSU Winter Cross Country Classic on Feb. 5 and clocked 20:05.0 at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals on Oct. 15 prior to today’s record-breaking 19:50.6 effort. Doan’s 5K split on Saturday (16:39.4) was 18 seconds faster than her program record from the ASUN Championships.
• Doan punctuated a storybook season which also saw her claim her first ASUN cross country individual title and her first all-region medal. The ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year helped the Lady Flames capture their second straight ASUN team title. She also set program records for both the 5K (16:57.4) and 6K (19:50.6).

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