Pella, Iowa. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s cross country teams brought their 2014 seasons to a close at the NCAA Central Region Championships held Saturday afternoon on the campus of Central College. Both teams placed 10th place out of 27 teams, with the women scoring 308, the men scoring 292. The womens team improved one spot from last season’s 11th place finish, while the men made a huge leap, improving nine places from their 19th place finish at the regional meet in 2013.
Carleton College won the women’s title with a score 60, St. Olaf College placed runner-up with an 81 and the University of St. Thomas rounded out the top three in third with a 127. On the men’s side it was again St. Olaf that ran away with the championship with a score of 21. Loras College placed second with 78 points and Central took third with 82.
Caitlin Fermoyle was named an All-Region performer for the second time in her career after placing 15th in 22:23.2, almost a minute faster than her 23:12.6 that earned her All-Region honors in 2012.
For the second time in her career, Caitlin Fermoyle (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) was named an All-Region performer. Fermoyle was the top Gustavus finisher after placing 15th in 22:23.2, almost a minute faster than her 23:12.6 that earned her All-Region honors in 2012.
Lauren Shurson (Jr., Chanhassen, Minn.) was next in line for Gustavus after finishing the 6k course in 22:50.7 to earn a 33rd place finish overall.
Rounding out the women’s top five was Emily Sands (So., Rochester, Minn.) in 73rd (23:43.0), Mata Agre (Jr., Medina, Minn.) in 92nd (24:01.8) and Courtney Branch (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) in 95th (24:05.8).
“Our women really ran tough today,” said head coach Dale Bahr. “They put their noses out there and really put up a fight. They knew they didn’t have one of their best teammates running with them, but they responded so well and I’m sincerely proud of every single one of them for rising to the occasion. Caitlin has done a great job of leading this team as a senior and they responded… six out of our top seven runners recorded personal bests. Really a great day for us.”
Thomas Knobbe (So., Decorah, Iowa) paced the men’s team and will be heading to the NCAA National Meet after crossing the finish line in 25:40.9 for a 26th place finish to earn individual qualifications. Behind him was junior Paul Nordquist (Edina, Minn.) who placed 41st with a time of 25:56.9, and Carston Dammann (So., Lake City, Minn.) who posted a 68th place finish in 26:30.9.
Rounding out the men’s top individuals were junior Marcus Speca (Minnetonka, Minn.) in 70th (26:31.5), and Evan Jones (So., Pella, Iowa) in 87th (26:44.6).
“We had a very, very good day on the men’s side,” said Bahr. “I think we ran about as well as we could have, our top four guys all recorded personal best times and that was awesome to see during the last race of the season. The course was fast and the wind was low so that was nice, but credit to our guys for putting together awesome races. Carston especially, with this being his first year of collegiate cross country, stepped up in a big way to help close that gap and really lower our team score.”
“This group of guys ran for each other,” added Bahr. “It was great to see that kind of team accomplishment and I can’t say enough how proud I am of this group.”
Carleton’sRuth Steinke took home individual medalist honors with a time of 21:16.0 in the women’s race. Tricia Serres of Luther finished runner-up in 21:25.5 and Kimber Meyer of Macalester took third in 21:30.8.
Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf was crowned the individual champion in the men’s race, crossing the finish line in 24:13.4. Wintheiser was followed by Central’s Eli Horton, the 2013 individual champion, in second place (24:38.8) and fellow Ole Jake Campbell placed third (24:45.6).