ATLANTA, Ga. - The Hesston College women's flag football team was named the national runner-up for the second year in a row at the NJCAA National Championships in Atlanta, Ga.from May 9-10. The Larks played a best-of-three series with the defending national champions, the Florida Gateway College Timberwolves. Hesston played Florida Gateway close in the first game falling 26-13 before dropping the second game 45-6 on Thursday.

In the first game, Hesston kept up with Florida Gateway as they only trailed 7-6 at the half. The Lark defense held the Timberwolves in check early on keeping them out of the endzone on their first three possessions. After the Timberwolves scored their first touchdown of the contest, the Larks answered on the first play of the following possession with a long pass from Kaley Phillips to Zahleah Beaubrun. The Timberwolves pulled away in the second half scoring 19 unanswered points until Phillips ran it in for the Larks second touchdown. 

After playing their first game at the Franklin Gateway Sports Complex, the two teams migrated to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, for the their game on Thursday. The Timberwolves took a commanding lead early in the contest and held off the Lark offense to claim their second national title. The lone Lark score came on a short run by Phillips.

The Timberwolves finished their season 15-1 overall with their only loss coming to last year's NAIA national runner-up, Thomas University. The Timberwolves entered the national tournament with nine total shutout wins including five of their last six regular season contests. 

The Larks wrapped up their second season at 12-4 overall improving from an 8-7 overall record last season. The 13 points scored in the first game was the third-highest point total allowed by Gateway this season.