Nationals bound: Mustangs headed for Tallahassee

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The Morningside women's cross country team is headed to the NAIA National Championship.

After placing second Saturday in the Great Plains Athletic Conference meet, the Mustangs were announced Tuesday as an automatic qualifier for the NAIA meet that'll run Nov. 21 in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Mustangs were also ranked 30th in Tuesday's final women's cross country poll, receiving 20 points worth of votes from the committee.

Morningside has had three Top 10 team finishes this season — fourth at the Briar Cliff meet, seventh at the Dordt Holiday Inn Express Classic, and at the GPAC meet this past week.

The Mustangs are led by Courtney Sporrer, who has placed in the Top 15 individually in all five meets she's raced in this season. On Saturday, she became a four-time All-GPAC runner after finishing seventh in the league meet.

This time, it won't be only Sporrer representing the Mustangs. The other runners who competed Saturday were: Gabby Ryan, Stefi Besswenger, Madison Sporrer, London Rogge, Nicole Zuehl, Breyer Anderson, Carmen Buschkamp, Natalie Point, and Ava Lang.