By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- She has taken part in 24 cross country meets since arriving at Bridgewater State University in the fall of 2022.
Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.) has competed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania and Indiana during her four-year career, piling up plenty of success along the way.
On Saturday morning, Cass will line up one more time for the 25th and final cross country race of her illustrious BSU career, doing so on a national stage.
Her cross country grand finale will take place in Spartanburg, S.C., at the Roger Milliken Center at 11 a.m. with Cass adding to her historic run for the Bears by competing in a third straight NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships.
Cass is the lone BSU runner to ever accomplish that feat, and she is a three-time Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference champion and a three-time All-East Region selection.
One last accomplishment is waiting to be checked off by Cass -- earning All-America honors by finishing in the top 40 in the nation on the six-kilometer South Carolina course.
"The goal is to be an All-American,'' said the senior elementary education/psychology major. "I definitely feel a lot stronger. My PR is almost a full minute faster (than 2024), so I'm hoping that the way I have been running this whole season, I can make that jump.''
Cass finished 145th out of 293 runners with a time of 22:49.6 as a sophomore at the NCAAs in 2023 at Newville, Pa., and was 115th with a time of 22:27 a year ago in Terre Haute, Ind.
Her best time this season -- 21:32.2 at the East Region meet last week -- is nearly a full minute better than what Cass ran in the NCAAs a year ago.
The 40th place finisher a year ago finished in 21:47.2 to earn All-American status.
"That would be so amazing," said Cass of ending her career in cross country as an All-American. "That's been my goal for the last three years. I'm close. I'll just have to have a really good race. I think I'm capable of that. I'm hopeful."
Cass has come a very long way since joining the BSU cross country program as a freshman in August 2022.
She had played soccer during the fall season at Westport High School and never ran a cross country race until her BSU debut in Attleboro, Mass., at the Wheaton/Babson Season Opener.
Cass, who ran track in high school, placed 42nd and was the seven Bears' runner to cross the finish line in her debut race.
Cass improved throughout the season, was 36th at the MASCAC Championships and took part in the East Region Championships, placing 196th.
There were no dreams of winning conference championships, qualifying for the NCAAs or becoming an All-American back then.
"Oh my gosh, no. Not at all," said Cass. "I didn't run cross country in high school and even as a freshman, I never thought about going to nationals and even thought about becoming an All-American.
"I've come so far. My freshman year, I was mid-22:00 for a 5K. Now I'm down below 18. That's a big difference."
The turnaround began as soon as Cass' sophomore season began.
She was first at the three-kilometer Wheaton/Babson opener, second at the Keene State Invitational and seventh at the Suffolk Invitational.
Then Cass began her dominance at the MASCACs, winning her first of three straight titles in 19:10.88 on the five-kilometer course. She was 10th at the East Region race in '23.
As a junior, Cass ran the MASCAC course in 18:31.89 to win by nearly 25 seconds and was sixth at the East Region race.
This fall, Cass has reduced her times with every race and won the MASCAC in 17:59.71, nearly 34 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Cass was fourth at the East Region in 21:32.2, shaving 33 seconds off last year's time. An increased training regime during the offseason helped prepare her for one last cross country season.
"I got up to 60-mile weeks over the summer," she said. "I had a couple of weeks 62 miles. Last year, I went up to the high 40s, so it was a pretty big jump. I feel a lot stronger, too. I've been lifting more and I feel more stronger than last year."
The first NCAA race for Cass in '23 in Pennsylvania was a challenge as Cass had to deal with a whole new environment on the national level.
"It did not feel real at all," said Cass. "The course was crazy. Massachusetts does not have the type of hills that Pennsylvania has. I was so nervous.
"I remember my assistant coach came with me that time and she was like, 'This is your reward. This is the cake you get to eat because you worked so hard. Next year you can focus on place and trying to get close to All-American.' That really helped calm my nerves a lot."
Last season, the NCAAs took place in Indiana and Cass settled in a bit easier after having run the year before.
"It was a lot different," said Cass. "That was like the most ideal cross country course. It was super wide with the perfect amount of hills.
"I definitely felt a lot more calm. But I kind of fell asleep in the middle of the race. Going into this one, I have to make sure the nerves don't get to me like sophomore year, but I can't feel settled as much like last year."
One more chapter awaits to be written in the cross country career of Naomi Cass, who will then turn her attention to the indoor track season, which opens Dec. 6 in Boston, Mass.
She is hoping to bring back All-American honors from South Carolina in that final chapter.
"It's very special," said Cass of running in the NCAAs. "It's hard because I wish I had my team there with me on the line.
"I'm so honored to be there. The energy is always so much fun. It just feels so unreal that I'm already a senior and it's almost over.
"This all means so much. I'm so grateful for my coach (Christine Kloiber). I owe her everything. I just do everything she tells me to do. I trust her completely. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so happy to be able to do this."
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