The Northwestern women’s cross country team and some of the men competed at the Herb Blakely Invitational on September 10 in Madison, S.D., hosted by Dakota State University.
“I think the course at DSU is a good cross country course,” said head coach Scott Bahrke. “It is especially nice for our first college race because there are not a ton of loops to repeat. Our runners handled it well.”
The NW women placed fourth out of 10 teams and were led by freshman Breanna Harthoorn, who finished in eighth place overall. Harthoorn posted a 5K time of 19:55. Sam Sinclair was the second Red Raider to cross the finish line with a time of 21:21. Freshman Wesley Milligan finished right behind Sinclair with a time of 21:25, along with freshman Emma Van Meeteren (21:29), freshman Kelsey Lang (21:47), and sophomore Alicia Darling (21:53).
Four NW men competed at the invitational, led by sophomore Caleb Benzing with an 8K time of 28:16. Senior Luke Lorfeld placed 45th with a time of 29:52. Junior Jeff Jeltma (31:34) and sophomore Alex Currier (33:47) were the other two Red Raider finishers.
“Overall we persevered on a challenging course,” Bahrke said. “We will continue to work on staying mentally engaged in practice.”
The NW cross country teams will next compete Sept. 17 in the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University.
