Cross country women take first, men second

The men’s and women’s cross country teams performed admirably in the Dean White invitational on Saturday. The men finished second out of six teams in the 8K, while the women won their event in a close contest with host school Doane.
The men’s team was led by junior Jesse Baldwin, who finished sixth, while freshman Logan Hovland and sophomore Zach Wittenberg came in ninth and tenth place, respectively. Junior Sean Guthmiller also placed in the top 15.
The women’s team was led by senior Teresa Kerkvliet, who finished third overall. Junior Amy Van Skike finished sixth, and freshman Sara Edmundson placed eighth overall.
Sophomore Dawn Gildersleeve rounded out the top 10. Freshman Amber Sandbulte earned 12th place and senior Allison Weeldreyer 15th.
Coach Nate Wolf liked what he saw from both teams.
“The men held pace well from the 3K-8K portion of the race,” said Wolf. “Our team average time was 1:06 faster than last year’s fastest time from our team on that course. We had 4 guys under 27:00 on a tough course and two more guys in the very low 28 minutes.”
“The course was much quicker this year,” Kerkvliet said, “It was a great day: sunny, and a slight breeze. Just a good day to race.”
Kerkvliet and Wolf both believe that this year’s team is moving forward well, after the loss of last year’s talented senior class.
“We have a good team,” said Kerkvliet. “Amy Van Skike is coming off a great track season. Dawn Gildersleeve came off one too. We are filling in those spots the way we are supposed to.”
The Raiders will compete at Briar Cliff on Oct. 8 next time out.