Marit Sonnesyn earned all-conference honors with a 13th place finish to lead the Gusties (photo courtesy of Matt Higgins, MIAC Assistant Executive Director)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s cross country team placed sixth at the MIAC Championships on Saturday afternoon at Como Park. The Gusties tallied a team score of 150, which put them 21 points back of Macalester College, which placed fifth. Carleton College won the meet with a total of 61 points, the University of St. Thomas was second with 72, and St. Olaf College rounded out the podium in third with a score of 97.
“Collectively, our team ran well, but I still don’t think we’ve put it all together from front to back,” said Coach Dale Bahr. “I have all the confidence in the world that these ladies will be able to do it in two weeks at the regional meet. We’re training well and getting great individual performances from different individuals at different meets, but I know we can keep improving and come away with more.”
Marit Sonnesyn (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) was Gustavus’ front-runner as she has been for a majority of the year. Sonnesyn took home all-conference honors with a time of 23:18.8, good for 13th place. Lauren Shurson (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn.) was right behind her in 16th, crossing the line in 23:25.9, which qualified her for all-conference honorable mention.
“Marit didn’t have her greatest race after coming off a cold,” said Bahr. “I don’t think she was getting the oxygen to her legs that she normally does, but she competed hard and still did a nice job for us. Lauren also ran a nice race today. She ran hard and stuck with her plan, which was nice to see.”
Sadie Novak-Klug (So., Waseca, Minn.) was third for the Gusties, running a time of 24:20.3, which put her in 30th place. “Sadie also had a nice race,” said Bahr. “She put together a consistent training program over the summer, which I believe really helped her a lot this season, especially the confidence in herself that she can race at this level.”
Lydia Hayes (So., Decorah, Iowa) followed Novak-Klug with a 45th place finish, crossing the line in 24:42.6, while Lotus Schifsky (Fy., Prescott, Wis.) was right behind her in 46th, rounding out the Gustie scoring with a time of 24:42.9.
“Lydia was our surprise on the day,” said Bahr. “She put together a great race and had one of those races where she let it all out and the results showed. Lotus didn’t run her best today, but knows what she needs to do to get better. She’s been up as our third or fourth all season long, certainly deserves to be on our regional team, and I think she can really make some strides before that meet.
Overall, it was a great effort from our women,” concluded Bahr. “Throughout the season, everyone on our team has shown they can race at a high level. I know there’s more in there, and now we’re just waiting for it all to happen at the same time.”
The Gusties will return to the course on Nov. 14 when they travel to Pella, Iowa for the NCAA Central Regional Meet.