KENOSHA, WIS.—The Carthage College women's cross country team recently honored four individuals as a part of their end of year awards.
 
Alanna Varnas (Most Valuable Runner):
 
The Elmhurst, Ill. native saved her strongest performances for last in 2017 as she tallied career-best times in all five meets she participated in. Varnas, who sat out the season-opening Vic Godfrey Open, kicked-off her career year with a 24:29 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Gil Dodds Invitational on September 16. She nearly shaved 0:30 off that time with a 24:01.5 at the Benedictine Eagle Invitational on October 6, which put her in 15^th place out of 183 competitors.
 
Varnas's career-best train continued with a 23:59.71 at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational on October 14, good enough for 22^nd place in a deep-353 runner field. She locked her second-consecutive trip to the All-CCIW Second Team with a 15^th-place time of 23:06.8 at the CCIW Championship. Varnas iced her collegiate career with a career-best 22:26.2 at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. She paced all Lady Reds in all five participated events.
 
Marisa Monbrod (Most Improved Runner):
 
Monbrod was one-of-five Lady Reds to compete in all six events in 2017. She improved her 6K time as each meet progressed, which began with a 26:18 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Gil Dodds Invitational. She shaved :45 off that mark at the Benedictine Eagle Invitational, where she clocked-in a 25:33.0.  
 
Monbrod entrenched her name in the Lady Reds top-seven finisher list for the second-consecutive meet at the UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational. She was the third Carthage runner to cross the finish line at the CCIW Championship with a 24:31.0 before she registered a career-best 23:55.2 at the NCAA Division III Regional Meet.
 
Amanda Goecke (Abe Award):
 
The Chicago native participated in five of the Lady Reds' six events in 2017. She tallied a season-best 25:06.7 at the CCIW Championship, which secured her 56^th place out of 83 runners. Goecke improved her time with each 6K event in 2017, which began with a 26:36 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Gil Dodds Invitational, and ended with a 25:06.7 at the CCIW Championship.
 
Lexie Mallary (Abe Award):
 
Mallary, a junior from Cordova, Ill., participated in the Lady Reds' first five events of 2017. The pinnacle of Mallary's season occurred at the CCIW Championship Open Race, where she tallied a career-best 25:10. Mallary improved her 6K mark as the season progressed, which began with a 26:25 at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Gil Dodds Invitational. She followed that with times of 26:10.43 (Benedictine Eagle Invitational) and 25:54.26 (UW-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational).