Last Saturday, the Raider cross country men and women competed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships, held at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Nebraska. While the temperatures were near optimal for distance running, the race conditions overall were some of the toughest all season. After a few days of rainfall, the course, already presenting challenging elevation changes, had become significantly muddier. On top of that, runners would face wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour.
At 10:45 a.m., the women’s 6k was underway. Corinne Braun of Dordt took the individual title in a time of 22:43. Emma Haley was the highest finisher for Northwestern, coming in 20th with a time of 24:35.
The men’s race began at 11:30a.m. The pace went out quick, but finishing times were noticeably slower than typical, as Concordia’s Vaughn Hendrickson bested the field in a time of 25:44, almost a minute slower than his fastest time this year. Freshman Alik McIlravy led the Raider men, clocking a time of 27:26 for 26th place. Ben VanDeBerg finished a few moments later in 28th.
In the team standings, the Raider women would come away with a 6th place finish, while the men would claim the fifth position. Dordt won both team titles.
For the Raiders, it was a rather disappointing conclusion to a season marked by significant growth and the fastest times in years, but they know that results are not everything.
Emma Haley, after closing out her Raider cross country career on the GPAC course, said, “At the end of the day, what is most important in my mind is not the places or times that we accomplished together but the process of growing closer to the Lord and to one another through the ups and downs of the season.”
Reflecting on the season, head coach Scott Bahrke said, “I was nervous about adding 23 newcomers to our team, but the XC team bond was closer than ever this season. From a training perspective, we may need to alter some mileage goals to ensure we have everyone peaking at the conference championship.” Bahrke was optimistic about the future. “We will lose 12 amazing seniors, but the 36 men and women that return are willing to do hard things to improve.”
The National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championships will be held on Friday, November 22nd at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, MO.
