Mustangs earn all-conference honors in 9 events at GPAC Championships

HASTINGS, NEB. – The Great Plains Athletic Conference was all at the same facility for the first time since indoor season this weekend, competing in the GPAC Women's Track and Field Championship at Hastings. The Mustangs had a strong showing against their peers, claiming a pair of conference titles, hitting a pair of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics B qualifying standards, and earning all-conference honors in nine events.

It was Courtney Sporrer that ran for Morningside's lone conference champion honor, taking the top of the podium in the 3000-meter steeplechase and hitting the NAIA B standard in 11:08.99. Teammate Jillian Fierro crossed the line in 10th at the 13:45.91 mark.

Sporrer would repeat as GPAC champ in the 5,000-meter run, finishing eight seconds ahead of the no. 2 runner as she crossed the line in 18:36.19. London Rogge took eighth in the race in 19:39.30 as both Mustangs claimed all-conference honors. 

Rogge's strongest placing came in Friday night's running events, as the junior placed third in the 10,000-meter run, finishing the 25 lap race in 41:23.91. Gabby Ryan finished 10th in the event, finishing less than two minutes later in 42:55.54.

Jolee Mesz, Morgan Sachs, and Nicole Zuehl teamed up with Sporrer to produce a second place finish in the 4x800-meter relay, finishing just off of their pace at the Drake Relays just over a week ago as they crossed the finish line in 9:26.22 for another B standard. The Mustangs crossed ahead of Dordt, who ran a 9:08.33 at Drake to win the college division 4x800.

Jacee Tindall was the GPAC runner-up in the javelin, throwing 39.53 meters for all-conference honors. She also placed 17th in the shot put, as the shot came crashing to the Earth 11.39 meters from the ring

Sachs and Mesz added individual GPAC honors in the 800-meter run, placing nos. 6 and 7 in 2:19.65 and 2:20.28, respectively.

Kinsey Alt added an all-conference and top-10 finish in the long jump as she placed eighth, soaring 5.28 meters. Nicole Zuehl added a top-10 of her own in the 1,500-meter run, placing eighth with a time of 4:58.24.

The Mustangs will hope to get some last-chance national qualifiers and improve seed times on Friday as a delegation races against the sunset at Concordia University's Twilight Meet, before sending the national qualifiers off to Indiana Wesleyan later this month.