Cross Country Earns Seventh and Eighth in Briar Cliff Invite
by Madison Pitsch
Weeks of intense training came to a head for the Bulldog Cross Country squad at the Briar Cliff Invitational on Oct. 8. The Bulldogs placed well in this pre-conference test, with the men notching a seventh place finish and women taking eighth.
The Bulldogs typically run this course well, and sophomore Taylor Grove proved that with her best time of 18:53.56. Grove placed 25th overall and 14th among the competing GPAC runners. Junior Emily Sievert recorded a season best of 19:05.34. Rounding out the top three was transfer junior Shelbi Hackbart with her debut as a Bulldog, resulting in 19:32.26. Senior Marti Vlasin and sophomore Jacy Johnston filled in the top five running times of 19:55.31 and 19:58.72 respectively.
“Our ladies placed eighth out of 15 teams, and if you remove the two NCAA Division II teams we were sixth in the GPAC,” coach Matt Beisel said. “The performances were great – but we are in a deeply competitive conference, and it’s clear we still have work to do if we want to be more competitive.”
The men had a banner day, led by junior Kohlton Gabehart who nabbed a PR and 33rd place finish overall with a time of 26:50.50. Sophomore Thomas Taylor and junior Patrick Wortmann were quick on Gabehart’s heels with PR times of 26:51.3 and 27:01.00, respectively. Sophomore Evan Asche nabbed the fourth spot on the team with 27:35.76. Rounding out the top five was sophomore Cameron Moes with a 27:52.50.
Beisel is hopeful for a stand-out season finish for his squads.
“Our men placed seventh out of 14 teams,” Beisel said. “If the NCAA Division II team is not counted, we end up in sixth overall – just like the women – versus all GPAC teams. Again, as with the ladies, we ran great but it’s going to take everything coming together with God’s help for us to hit our GPAC Championships goals.”
The Bulldogs will run next at the Mount Mercy University Seminole Valley Stampede in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Oct. 22. Races begin at 11:30 a.m.
