WINNECONNE, Wis. – Junior Abrah Masterson (JR/Granby, Colo.) safely secured her place as Cornell's most decorated All-American in any sport well before she hit the final straightaway in Saturday's race at Lake Breeze Golf Course.

So why not add a second NCAA title to her sparkling resume in a six-month span?

Masterson held off a handful of challengers down the stretch and capped an incredible 2015 calendar year as national champion at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships.

Masterson zipped through the course in a swift 6-kilometer time of 21 minutes, 23.10 seconds. Willamette's Olivia Manci was a close second in 21:25.40, followed by Pomona-Pitzer's Maya Weigel (21:27.00), Williams' Hannah Cole (21:30.30) and Carleton's Ruth Steinke (21:31.40) to round out the top five.

Cornell's Sam Martinez (SR/Bowie, Texas) made history of her own with a 13th-place All-America finish in 21:36.20. The senior became the program's first two-time All-American in cross country, after taking 19th in 2014.

Masterson, the 2015 NCAA outdoor champion in the 10,000-meter run, joined wrestling great Lowell Lange (3-time champion, 1947, 49-50) and track star Pauline Henry (two-time champion, 1983-84) as Cornell's only student-athletes to claim multiple NCAA championships in a career.

Masterson earned her fifth All-America medal in 2015, which are the most in a career by any Ram in any sport. She collected four All-America finishes in distance events this past track & field season.    

Cornell's previous-best NCAA individual cross country finish was by Bill Dressel (fourth) in 1962.

Masterson was 2015 runner-up at the Midwest Conference and Central Region Championships. She saved her best for Saturday in a field of 280 competitors.

Martinez and Masterson charged to the head of the pack early and were positioned second and fourth, respectively, after two kilometers. Masterson moved into second place with one kilometer to go and left everyone behind at the finish.

Masterson, a three-time NCAA cross country qualifier, placed 39th in 2014 and 113th as a freshman. The three-time all-region performer posted the 15th top-five cross country finish of her career.

Martinez finished just 1.3 seconds outside the top 10 in Saturday's race. The 2015 MWC champion wrapped up a stellar cross country career as a three-time all-conference and all-region honoree. Martinez gathered 14 career top-five finishes.