ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s and men’s cross country teams are set to compete at the MIAC Championships on Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. This is the first time since 1992 the MIAC has held its Cross Country Championships at a site other than Como Golf Course in St. Paul, which hosted the conference meet 30 of the last 35 years. The women’s race begins at 11 a.m. with the men to follow at noon.
The Gusties had last weekend off and most recently competed at UW-La Crosse on Oct. 14. The women took sixth of 21 teams, while the men placed 15th. Sadie Klug (Sr., Waseca, Minn.) enters the conference championship as the Gusties’ top runner. Her last time of 22:31 tied for the 25th fastest 6k time in program history. Olivia Rosenow (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.), Gabby Passmore (So., Mapleton, Minn.), Sarah Anderson (So., Roseville, Minn.), Tierney Winter (So., Waterville, Minn.), Abbie Schnabel (Jr., Hamburg, Minn.), Lydia Hayes (Sr., Decorah, Iowa), and Lotus Schifsky (Jr., Prescott, Wis.) have also been consistent all season long. Each runner finished their last race under the 24-minute mark. The Gustie women enter the conference meet ranked No. 6 in the Central Region behind MIAC opponents Carleton (1), St. Olaf (2), and St. Thomas (4).
The men’s team has been paced all season long by Andrew Stumbo (Fy., Boone, Iowa), who nearly broke the 26-minute barrier two weeks ago. Jeremy Gilbertson (Fy., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Nick Kerbeshian (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.) finished under 27 minutes in the last meet, while Ryley Sandberg (Sr., Alleman, Iowa), Brennan Gustafson (Fy., Kasson, Minn.), Alex Wischnack (Jr., Norwood, Minn.), Ben Madigan (Jr., Kohler, Wis.), and Andrew Wischnack (Jr., Norwood, Minn.) have been in the mix of top-seven runners throughout the season.
Last season the women placed 11th at the conference meet and the men took third with a senior-heavy lineup.