On Nov. 9 both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams traveled to Ashland, Nebraska, to compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships. The Women’s Team ended with third overall while the Men’s Team ended second overall.
Leading the Women’s team was junior Calla Wittland who finished in seventh with a time of 23:35.9. Shortly after Wittland was junior Danie Parriott, who had a time of 23:37.8 which placed her eighth. Finishing 21st with a time of 24:39.1 was freshman Kenzy Lippold, with sophomore Laura Hasemann placing 26th with a time of 25:04.3. Having a time of 25:24.2 and placing 32nd was sophomore Delaney Catron. Finishing in 48th was sophomore Grace Colbert who had a time of 25:56.2 and finished the race on a broken foot. Finishing out the top seven times for the Tigers was freshman Alison Bradford who had a time of 26:08.2 placing her at 51st. Wittland and Parriott received all-conference honors.
Transitioning over to the Men’s side, crossing the finish line in fourth overall was junior Emmanuel Yego with a time of 25:59.9, and following him was senior Thomas Oliver who had a time of 26:04.7 placing him fifth. Finishing in 11th with a time of 26:31.2 was junior Micheal Grigsby, following him was freshman Porter Bickley who placed 12th with a time of 26:37.8 and placing 13th with a time of 26:39.9 was junior Nelson Ruto. Placing 15th was freshman Jayden Wall who had a time of 26:41.5 and finishing up the top seven Tigers was senior Jakob Tadlock who had a time of 27:03.3 which placed him at 18th. Yego, Oliver, Grigsby, Bickley, Ruto and Wall all received all-conference honors.
Both teams will find out if they qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championship on Nov. 12, but this race concluded both Men’s and Women’s regular season meets.
