JOPLIN, MO. – The University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams came up with an outstanding group of performances as the season concluded at the NCAA DII Central Regional Championships today (Nov. 6.).

The USF Men's Team finished ninth with 277 points as they placed four runners in the top 70, including junior Aaron Voigt who was 28^th with a personal best of 30:53.14. As for the USF Women's Team, the Cougars placed 16^th with 415 points as freshman Morgan Gehl led the way with a 31^st place finish and personal-best or 21:56.6 in her first regional race.

"We were thrilled with the results from both squads today," said USF Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Doug Petersen. "Our women had personal-best times and put themselves in a position for success. Our region is so strong it was great to see the finishes by both of our teams. I was really proud of their efforts today," he said.  "This 10K for the men was the first time all seven have raced that distance and they performed at a high level," said Petersen. "All had personal-bests at that distance and recorded outstanding times. I am also super proud of the races run by our leaders Morgan Gehl for the women and Aaron Voigt for the men's team," he said.

Men's Breakdown –

In the Men's Race, USF was ninth with 277 points as Vogt was 28^th with his clocking of 30:53.14. At the half-way point the junior from Gregory, S.D., was at 15:16.9 but closed hard and moved up six spots. He had an average mile pace of 4:58.2. Junior David Ecker was 46^th with his clocking of 31:28.41. He was 48^th at the halfway point (15:29.7) and moved up as he had an average of 5:03.9 per mile across the 10K (6.2 miles course). In his first regional at USF, junior Jakob Hanna averaged 5:05.1 per mile and finished 52^nd in a clocking of 31:36.04. 

Sophomore Micade Shumway had a personal-best performance with a 66^th place finish in 32:00.11. Over the final half of the course, Shumway moved up five spots as he averaged 5:09.0 per mile. Freshman Caleb Rivera was 85^th in 32:23.01 and he also advanced significantly over the final half of the race. He moved up 18 spots in recording a 5:12.7 mile pace. Sophomore Christian Lietz was 91^st with a personal-best clocking of 32:2.82 as he averaged 5:13.3 per mile. In addition, freshman Kade Bullion finished his first regional by moving up 17 spots over the final stage of the race and clocked in 33:01.31 with a mile pace of 5:18.8.

Women's Breakdown –
Gehl, who has been the top runner for USF all season, again shined in her first regional. The freshman from Fulda, Minn., finished 31^st today with a clocking of 21:56.5, Gehl, who had an average per mile clocking of 5:53.1, moved up three spots from the 3K halfway point where she was at 11:02.6. Freshman Khot Juac was 69^th with a personal-best clocking of 22:37.2. She averaged 6:04.0 in the race. Junior Tianna Voigt had a personal-best of 22:45.3 to finish 76th. In averaging 6:06.2 per mile, she moved up 18 spots from the halfway mark where she sat 11:32.1.

Junior Annika Aho also had a personal-best race with a time of 23:07.5 in finishing 101st. She moved up 17 spots from the halfway point as she averaged 6:12.1 per mile.  Also for the young USF squad, freshman Jessica Lutmer had a clocking of 23:45.8 and was 138th with a mile pace of 6:22.4 as she moved up four spots. Sophomore Karlee Simmons finished 156^th with a personal-best clocking of 24:11.9. She had a per mile pace of 6:29.4. Senior Zoe Cigard had her personal-best of 24:43.5 by averaging 6:37.9 per mile.