The Northwestern men’s and women’s cross country teams both competed at Mount Marty last Saturday in their last meet before the GPAC championships. There were only two teams from the GPAC not in attendance, but both teams treated it as an opportunity to preview what the conference meet will be like.
The women’s team had a bit of a rough go, but that did not shake their confidence. Freshman Alisha Darling was the first one to finish for the women, and was four seconds off from her personal best time. Darling was followed by sophomores Katie Bosch and Sarah Lunn. Sophomore Sam Sinclair, seniors Suzanna Nachbar, Alissa Gilbaugh and freshman Allie Helmink rounded out the top seven finishers.
“I know the ladies racing at GPAC look forward to racing better in Crete, Nebraska,” said head coach Scott Bahrke.
The men’s team made a statement going into the GPAC meet. They finished second overall, just five points short of taking down Morningside, who is the top men’s team in the GPAC going into the conference meet.
“To only be behind the meet champion Morningside by five points is a great confidence boost as we head into our championship meet on November 7, 2015,” Bahrke said.
The Red Raider men had five runners in the top 25. Senior Caleb VanderBaan led the men with a time of 26:21. Sophomore Hans Epp was a close second for the men’s team with a time of 26:25. Sophomores Ryan Bauermeister, Tanner Goetsch and Tim Rose, seniors Elliott Johnson and Kyle Anderson rounded out the top seven finishers.
The Red Raiders head over to Doane College for the GPAC meet with high hopes of performing well, but with the understanding that it will be quite a battle with the top three teams in Morningside, Dordt, and NW, being so close together.
