Pair of top three team marks spotlight home invitational

MCCOOK LAKE, S.D. – The excitement level within the Morningside University men's and women's cross country programs continues to build.

And with good reason.

Head coach Dave Nash's teams battled a strong early-season field at their home invitational around the Adams Nature Preserve Friday, Sept. 17. At evening's end, the Mside women finished a close second to Concordia University (29-40), and the men battled into the top three with 63 points, trailing only Concordia (43) and National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Wayne State College (53).

"It was a great day for us," Nash pointed out. "Our guys really stepped up behind the races of senior Garrett Hanson (of Sioux City, Iowa) and sophomore Levi Son (of Shenandoah, Iowa). They were two pleasant surprises with Garrett's hard work over the summer paying off as he ran as our number two finisher, and Levi took a minute off his best time at Iowa Central Community College last season.

"Our women continue to track towards being in the national poll discussion," he added. "Kristine paced herself very well from the start to finish to get second, and Jo continued to be on fire to start the year. "It was awesome seeing Emalee start off her season, too."

Honomichl's 19:00.83 and McKibben's 19:04.96 left them runner-up and third individually for the women. Fundermann placed sixth (19:27.62). On the men's side, senior Ro Paschal (Mancos, Colo.) was the low finisher (6^th – 26:26.28) with Hanson (8^th – 27:02.07) and senior Zach Ambrose (Dunlap, Iowa) (27:09.98) close behind.

"Looking forward, we will continue to keep increasing our mileage every chance we can," Nash said. "This was the guys' first five-mile race, so we will need to get them into that mode as the season rolls on. It's going to be about pushing intensity and being excited about what lies ahead."

Morningside returns to the Adams Nature Preserve Course Friday, Oct. 1, for the Briar Cliff University Invitational.