On Saturday, Sept. 28, Northwestern’s cross country team traveled to Crete, Nebraska, to compete in the Dean White Invitational hosted by Doane. The course was hilly and covered several types of terrain. The Raiders faced tough competition as they faced many of the ranked GPAC schools.
On the men’s side, the team finished third overall behind Dordt and Doane. The team was led by junior Dylan Hendricks who finished second overall, finishing in 26:31. He was followed by freshman Eric Heibult who finished 16th, freshman Jakob VanDerWerff who finished 23rd, sophomore Peyton Brasser who finished 32nd and sophomore Hayden Lee who finished 36th for the top five finishers for the team.
When asked about the team’s performance at the Dean White Invitational, head coach Scott Bahrke said, “Dylan Hendricks ran an impressive race on a very tough course and against strong competition. Our freshman also stepped up this weekend to lead the team and help us finish well.”
The women’s team took fourth place overall at the meet behind Concordia, Nebraska; Dordt and Nebraska-Kearney. Junior Hunter Koepke led the team and finished in 9th place with a time of 19:52. She placed ahead of many Concordia and Dordt athletes. She was followed by freshman Anessa Schoo in 12th place, senior Emma VanMeeteren in 14th place, junior Anna Teigland in 15th place and senior Kelsey Lang in 21st place.
Of this race, head coach Scott Bahrke said, “Hunter Koepke ran incredibly well this weekend for a ninth place finish overall. The second pack of ladies did a great job of moving as a pack the last two thousand meters of the course to finish well.”
The Red Raider cross country team has enjoyed the season so far and is looking forward to what the rest of the season holds for them. There are two regular season invites left for the season in addition to the GPAC conference meet as the last guaranteed meet of the 2019 season.
The men’s and women’s teams will compete this Saturday, Oct. 12 at Dordt University. This will be some of the toughest competition of the season as many ranked GPAC schools will be there in addition to other strong NAIA teams.
