WAYNE, NEB. – Led by All-NSIC performances from
Aaron Voigt,
David Ecker and
Jakob Hanna, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Cross Country Team captured third place with 105 points at the Northern Sun intercollegiate Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 23. USF's Women's Team was sixth with 206 points and led by freshman
Morgan Gehl, who finished 22nd in her first championship meet.
Voigt was a team-best 12
th by clocking 25:36.77 across the 8,000-meter course.
David Ecker, also a junior was 18
th in 25:56.93 while another junior
Jakob Hanna finished 20
th in 26:12.38. Also for USF, freshman
Chase Lather had a career-best performance by clocking 26:30.76 to claim 25
th place at the meet. Augustana won the men's title with 15 points while U-Mary was just ahead of USF with 83.
Gehl continued to be the lead runner for the USF Women's squad as she was 22
nd in 22:58.20 in the 6,000-meter race. Also for USF, freshman
Khot Juac finished 33
rd in 23:25.18 with
Annika Aho, 53
rd in 24:09.66; sophomore
Karlee Simmons, 63
rd in 24:31.79 and junior
Tianna Voigt, 65
th, in 24:36.25. Augustana won the women's race with 20 points followed by U-Mary, 84; Minnesota Duluth, 86; Minnesota State, 99; Winona State, 104 and then USF at 106.
Both USF men's and women's team exceeded the preseason projections, as noted by USF Director of Track and Field/Cross Country,
Doug Petersen. At the league championships, USF definitely shined with a combined 10 runners – six men and four women – who recorded times that rank among USF's all-time top-25 marks for the conference meet.
"We had outstanding efforts today by our runners at the NSIC Cross Country Championships," said Peterson, whose men's team was third for the second straight time while the women's squad was up to two spots from their eighth place finish in 2019. "The women's team came into the meet ranked ninth and finish a strong sixth. I am proud of the races the women's team members ran. Morgan (Gehl) just missed all-conference and led the way," he said.
Petersen noted the performance of a men's team also finished higher than ranked coming into the meet.
"The Men's team entered the meet ranked sixth from preseason and finished a strong third. It was exciting to have a solid team effort and challenge for second place. We had awesome runs by Aaron (Voigt), Dave (Ecker) and Jakob (Hanna), who all had all-conference honors. We also had many other outstanding runs with some personal records. Today's team efforts are a great way to prep for the regional championships," noted Petersen, whose squads will compete at the NCAA DII Regional Championships in Joplin, Mo., on Nov. 6.
Other men's results included:
Micade Shumway, 31
st, 26:42.29;
Christian Lietz, 39
th, 26:52.01;
Ben Morrison, 42
nd, 27:02.78;
Caleb Rivera, 43
rd, 27:03.94;
Kade Bullion, 50
th, 27:21.87;
Miles Olofson, 57
th, 27:28.60;
Zach Matzner, 80
th, 28:11.93; and
Justin Steffensmeier, 93
rd, 28:51.85.
Other results for the women's ream included
Jessica Lutmer, 73
rd, 24:59.61;
Zoe Cigard, 80
th, 25:14.09; Josey Boyd, 89
th, 25:29.66;
Gracie Bucher, 94
th, 25:41.69;
Moriah Bullerman, 96
th, 25:43.22;
Cassidy O'Meara, 105
th, 26:18.21; and
Ella Kolb, 108
th, 26:30.68.
