Kylie Bridenhagen/Winonan
On Saturday, Oct. 16, the Winona State University cross country teams ran at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Going into the championship the women’s team was ranked 17th in the nation by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Adam Boothe, the women’s head coach, said that his team has been racing smart all season, but they needed to “close the gap between the third, fourth, and fifth runners. The closer the fifth and fourth runners can get to our top three, the more dangerous we will become at the larger meets like Regionals and Nationals.”
The Warriors combined team time of 1:55.50 is the second fastest in program history—just shy of the time the conference team earned last year.
Winona State finished with 70 points, claiming the second place team title.
University of Mary was third with 78 points. The winner of the NSIC championship meet was Augustana, whose runners finished second, third, fourth, fifth, and ninth for a team total of 23 points.
Jessica Young, who was the first Warrior to finish, was hoping to place well individually and as a team. “It is truly a gift to be on such a strong team that can and will make a big difference,” she said.
She certainly got what she had hoped for. The team finished second to the previous week’s number one central region division two school, Augustana and Young placed seventh overall with a time of 22:39.2.
Kayla Gudmundson finished just behind Young in eighth place in 22:47.1.
The third runner in for the Warriors was Jordan Skelly whose time was 23:06.9, putting her 11th overall.
In 18th place with a time of 23:29.0, was Chelsea Schrubbe. The number five runner, Jordan Paschke, finished in 23:48.2, which was good for 26th place.
The overall winner of the meet was Melissa Agnew of the University of Mary. She completed her race in 21:48.5.
Teammates Leah Black and Runa Falch, from Augustana, finished second and third. Their times were 22:01.9 and 22:15.7.
The men’s team also finished among the top ten at the championship. The Warriors placed eighth with 203 points.
The number one and number three schools in the central region for the USTFCCCA week five poll also ran at this meet.
Sioux Falls took home the third place title with 96 points. The number three school, Minnesota State Mankato was second with 51 points.
The NSIC champions and number one school in the central region was Augustana.
Their top five runners finished first, second, third, fifth, and seventh for a combined team score of just 18 points (In cross country, a perfect team score is 15 points).
Billy Eifert was the top runner from WSU. After running in at a time of 26:30.5, he was rewarded the 25th spot.
Alex Buss finished in 42nd place with a time of 27:33.0. Just two positions back, in 44th, was teammate Nick Couillard. His time was 27:35.9.
Right behind Couillard was David Lund. He finished in 27:36.8, in 45th place.
Clay Scott was the number five runner to cross the line. He did so in 27:42.6, and received the 47th place spot.
The top three competitors were all from the champion school, Augustana. Josiah Swanson took home the third place award in a time of 25:35.6. In second place was Travis Beniak with his time of 25:26.0.
The overall winner of the race was Paul Yak, with his time of 24:59.4.
The Warriors will have some time off now to rest and prepare for their next challenge.
Both teams will return to action on Nov. 3 in Joplin, Mo. for the NCAA Central Region Championships.
Contact Kylie at [email protected].
