SPOKANE, Wash. – With temperatures hanging around 25 degrees and a consistent covering of snow on the ground, the setting in Spokane Saturday for the NCAA Division II National Championships closely resembled last year's national race in Louisville, Ky.
 
What turned out to be remarkably different, through hard work and dedication over the last 12 months, was the finish for Cal Poly Pomona cross country star Tiffany Dinh.
 
During the 2010 National Championships, Dinh recorded a time of 23:03.0 to place 72nd overall. On Saturday in Spokane, she cut that finish in half, placing 36th to earn NCAA Division II All-American honors. The time also proved to be a drastic improvement, as she crossed the line in 22:17.0.

Dinh is just the third runner in CPP women's cross country program history to achieve the All-American accolade. Joann Howard (1985) and Kellie Taylor (1990) are the other members of that elite trio.
 
"Having that experience last year really helped and Tiffany knew what was coming in terms of the conditions," Broncos' assistant coach Tony Reyes said. "The plan this year was to get out and get established, then run and hang on. At one point in the first loop, we counted her as high as her 27th. The second loop she was recovering a bit and dropped down to 38th or so, but she really raced well in the final stage and got back up to 36th."
 
In talking about how well Dinh raced, Reyes mentioned that the junior also showed progress as compared to the race she ran at the NCAA D-II West Region Championships in Spokane two weeks ago. The junior from Norwalk, Calif., finished sixth regionally earlier this month but on Saturday, she recorded the fourth-best time among West Region competitors.
 
"The last 800 I was starting to worry that people would pass me," Dinh said in talking about Saturday's championship race. "I started to just think about how disappointing it would be to not be an All-American after how hard I had fought earlier in the race. In the end, nobody passed me."
 
The incredible 2011 cross country season comes to an end for All-American Dinh, who will now focus on resting and training for the 2012 track and field campaign.
 
"She exemplifies everything that a coach would want in a student-athlete," said CPP head coach Troy Johnson, with Dinh being the first cross country All-American during Johnson's tenure. "She does everything well – she listens, she works hard, she's determined, she's there for her teammates. It's a combination of all those things that has led to her success."

In terms of the team cross country championships decided Saturday in Spokane, Western State won on the men's side while Augustana (S.D.) captured the women's title.