Women's Cross Country | 5/24/2016 3:08:00 PM

Romeoville, Ill. - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Tuesday (May 24) that former Lewis University cross country and track and field great Kasia Arient has been inducted into the USTFCCCA Division II Hall of Fame.

Arient is one of five inductees who will be honored at the NCAA Division II Pre-Championships banquet on Wednesday (May 25) night. Other inductees include Carmelita Jeter (Cal State-Dominguez Hills), Bershawn 'Batman' Jackson (Saint Augustine's), Jim Kemp (Kentucky State) and Clint Prange (Northwest Missouri State).

In all, Arient captured a total of six national championships during her three-year stay at Lewis (1996-99), including the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championship, helping the Flyers tie for second overall as a team. She was a two-time Cross Country All-American, three-time All-Midwest Region honoree and two-time GLVC Champion (1996, '98).

On the track side, Arient collected five individual national championships, including winning back-to-back national championships in the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs in 1997 and 1998. She also added the 1997 indoor 5,000-meter run national championship for good measure.

This is the second-straight year that a Lewis student-athlete has been named to the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, as former pole vaulter Duane Chappell earned that distinction in 2015.