Kate Lilly, who had a national-caliber career both on the cross country trails and on the track for Seattle Pacific, returned to the program in the fall of 2021 as a volunteer assistant coach.
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Lilly capped her cross country career in 2019 with her best-ever autumn. She earned All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors by placing second in the conference meet, her highest-ever placing in any college cross country competition. She followed that up with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals, her best-ever position in that meet, and earned All-Region recognition for the second straight year. Her regional time of 20 minutes, 59.4 seconds, was her first sub-21.
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At the NCAA Division II nationals in Sacramento, Lilly was 51st, her highest-ever placing in that meet.
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On the track, Lilly was a four-time All-American. Indoors, she ran the 1200-meter leadoff leg on the fifth-place 4000-meter distance medley relay team at NCAA nationals in 2018 to gain first-team honors. She was a second-teamer in the indoor mile in 2019, placing 12th.
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Outdoors, Lilly made the awards podium in the 5000 meters in 2019, taking fifth place. In 2018, she took 10th in the outdoor 1500 meters – that after coming into the meet seeded No. 23 among the 24 entries – to make the second team All-America list.
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In February 2020, Lilly won her first GNAC crown in any of the three running seasons by taking the 3000 meters at the indoor championship meet.
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Lilly is a native of Renton, about 15 miles southeast of Seattle Pacific.
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