Bulldogs earn top-six finishes at Dordt Holiday Inn Express invite
Section of the Concordia cross-country practice course.
Photo: Leo Lopez
By Kai Olbrich
The Concordia men’s and women’s cross country teams beat out multiple Great Plains Athletic Conference foes at the Dordt Holiday Inn Express Invite on Saturday, placing fifth for the men and sixth for the women.
The men had the highest overall finisher across the two teams with junior Vaughn Hendrickson, who placed eighth. The 2024 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics all-American has been coming into form in his last two meets and has led the Bulldogs in each of them. His time of 25:32.6 in the 8k is over a 45-second improvement from last week.
Hendrickson was followed by a trio of seniors: Trey Robertson in 14th, Justin Sherman in 29th and Ransom Watts in 30th. Another trio packed together well to take spots 34-36. Those were sophomores Keith Siek and Abram Chance, and senior Aidan Limback.
The men received a team score of 112, which was only bested by two-out-of-five GPAC opponents, Doane and No. 18 Dordt.
The women received 165 points and were beaten by No. 1 Dordt, No. 15 Doane and College of Saint Mary. They defeated Northwestern, Morningside and Waldorf.
The women were led by freshman Hope Beck, who placed 19th in the 6k race with a 23:03.5, and once again relied heavily on youth to make their way up the standings. A freshman trio of Katie Johnsen, Rachel Prince and Amanda Smith took 36th, 39th and 42nd, respectively.
Sophomore Ashley Robertson, senior Macee Ripke and sophomore Izzi Brumbaugh rounded out the top seven.
The Bulldogs have an off-week to prepare for their final regular-season meet, which will be the College of Saint Mary/Doane University Blazing Tiger Invite on Oct. 24 in Ashland, Nebraska. After that meet are the GPAC Championships on Nov. 7.
