ANGEL FIRE, N.M. -  Union College placed fourth at the NCCA Division II National Championships this past weekend, while Amanda McKay captured the national championship in short track.

The Bulldogs raced hard but were edged out of a Top Three spot due to a shortage of points in the gravity events. With 655 points, Western State (Colo.) College won the NCCA Division II title with Warren Wilson (N.C.) College edging University of Montana for second by one point (632-631). Union posted 576 points to finish fourth ahead of Colorado School of Mines, which had 567.

This marks the sixth year in a row that Union has placed in the Top Six and seventh it has notched a Top 10 finish.

But it was crashes in the gravity events that kept Union from seizing its second national championship. Justin Becker (Loveland, Ohio) had a strong run in qualifying but lost vital points due to a crash at the end. Amy Russell (Monticello, Ky.) crashed in qualifying and suffered a minor concussion.

Adding to the difficulty was the fact that the courses varied in altitude from 8,000-11,000 feet above sea level.

McKay (Petersburg, Ky.) picked up the third individual national title of her career by winning the women's short track. In 2002, she was the Division II Women's Individual Omninum Champion and won the cross country crown in 2003. The individual championship is the fifth in Union program history.

In the women's cross country, McKay made another podium appearance with a third-place finish, helping to finish third in the Omninum standings and earning All-American honors.

Chrissy Buerkle, last year's women's cross country champion, posted Top 10 finishes in every event. Autumn Hicks helped out the team by racing cross country in Russell’s spot, pulling through with strong finishes in both cross country and downhill. Karen Caldwell earned the team points in both cross country and short track.

Ryan Sickles (Deerfield, Fla.) and Jonathon Turner (Harlan, Ky.) competed in all four of the weekend’s events, earning valuable points for the team. Turner had the team’s best finish in short track coming in with a 17th-place finish.

Becker had the top finish for the team in cross country, coming in 13th place. Becker also had the best finish for the team in downhill, crossing the line in 24th place. Zac Moore, Kegan Lewis and Eddie Dray all raced hard and scored vital points for the team.