St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s cross country team finished fifth with a score of 155 at the 2013 MIAC Championships held Saturday afternoon at the Como Park Golf Course. Juniors Caitlin Fermoyle (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Rebecca Hare (Albany, Minn.) led the Gusties with a pair of All-Conference performances after finishing in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
“I’m proud of the way we ran today and our result was by no way because of a lack of heart or effort,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “We went out, ran strong, and didn’t hold anything back. The fact of the matter is that the other teams in the league also came ready to go this afternoon. Not one of those teams faltered and left the door open.”
Caitlin Fermoyle led Gustavus in 12th place to earn All-Conference honors for the second time in her career.
Carleton claimed the 2013 MIAC Championship after scoring 51 points and placing four runners on the All-Conference team. St. Olaf finished runner-up with 69 points, and Saint Benedict rounded out the podium in third with 115 points. Macalester finished one spot ahead of the Gusties with a score of 136.
Just like she has done all season, Caitlin Fermoyle ran at the front of the Gustavus pack. She crossed the finish line with a time of 23:34.7 to come in 12th overall and earn All-MIAC accolades for the second straight year.
Rebecca Hare also garnered All-Conference marks for the second year in a row after posting a 13th place finish in 23:31.4. Hare’s time this afternoon is her second-best of the season behind a 23:05 showing at the St. Olaf Invite on Sept. 21.
Following next in line was Lyndsi Schwichtenberg (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.). Schwichtenberg turned in one of her career best performances by running a 24:12.6 to finish 39th. Her time on Saturday was also her second fastest of the season.
“Caitlin and Reba were great leaders once again at the top of our lineup,” said Bahr. “Lyndsi Schwichtenberg was another one who ran with something to prove in her last conference meet. We had a lot of those type of performances today, but so did the rest of the league.”
Marrit Sonnesyn (So., Plymouth, Minn.), Lauren Shurson (So., Chanhassen, Minn.), and MaKena Hofer (So., Montevideo, Minn.) rounded out the team’s fourth, fifth, and sixth positions. Sonnesyn led the trio in 44th with a time of 24:24.3, Shurson came in 47th in 24:28.6, and Hofer placed 50th in 24:37.6. Marit Henckel (Jr., Viroqua, Wis.) rounded out Gustavus’s seven in 56th (24:48.7).
Rebecca Hare also turned in an All-Conference run for the second straight year.
Winning the race was Noelle Olson of St. Olaf who crossed the line in 21:49.5. Her teammate, Jorden Johnson, finished runner-up in 22:30.3. St. Catherine’s Ailee Larson took the final spot on the podium in third with a time of 22:38.2.
The MIAC has a home page dedicated to the 2013 MIAC Cross Country Championships, including information, links, results, recaps, photos and more. The MIAC and Gustavus would like to thank the host institution – Bethel University – for its efforts to host the meet, and Twin Cities Orthopedics for providing athletic training and medical services to the student-athletes.
The Gustavus cross country teams will be back on the course Saturday, Nov. 16 when they travel to Northfield, Minn. to compete in the NCAA Central Region Championships.