David Sheets reporter
Saturday, Nov. 9, the Pitt State men’s and women’s cross-country teams raced in the Division II Central Regional in Joplin, where both teams finished in the top 3, automatically qualifying for the national championship. This marks the men’s ninth appearance and fourth consecutive championship berth, as well as the women’s sixteenth appearance and sixth berth in the past seven years.
“We would have loved to be a little closer to victory or take the victory on both the men’s and women’s sides, but we saw good progress from both squads, from conference to regionals,” said coach Ben Barrows. “The race itself went really well. At the end of the day, getting first place at regionals is more of a bragging right. It doesn’t give you any advantage at the national championship. We still get to the same start line as everybody else. They got the job done and extended our season by two weeks. We’re still getting better throughout the season, and the goal is to be the best we can be in a couple of weeks for the championship.”
The women’s team placed second in their six-kilometer race with a score of 110, bested only by the Augustana Vikings, who had a score of 82. Redshirt senior Kate Strader once again led the Gorillas by finishing in sixth place with a time of 21 minutes, 5.2 seconds. Strader has now paced the Gorillas in four of the women’s cross-country team’s five races this season, and she has been named the MIAA Athlete of the Week on two separate occasions.
“I’m very happy with how the season’s gone. Honestly, without the coaching and teammates supporting me, I wouldn’t be able to achieve what I have this season. Kudos to my teammates, my coach, and my family’s support, too. I’m very happy with how my last year has gone. My goal going into this last cross-country season was just to make it count and do the best I can at each meet,” said Strader. Redshirt senior Marissa Dick and freshman Lorna Rae Pierce also placed fourteenth and twentieth, with times of 21 minutes, 31.8 seconds, and 21 minutes, 43.5 seconds, respectively.
On the men’s side, the team placed third overall in the ten-kilometer race with a score of 106. Pitt State was bested by the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, with a score of 76, and the East Central Tigers, with a score of 71. Graduate student Matthew Oglesby led the Gorillas with a sixth-place finish at 30 minutes, 29.4 seconds.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Oglesby. “Personally, I’ve got high expectations for myself, so I wanted a little bit more, but I was proud that I went out there and competed like a Gorilla. As a team, we, of course, also have high expectations. It wasn’t quite what we wanted, but it was a good day; not a perfect day, but a good day. As far as qualifying, I was proud of a lot of guys who had some really good races. We had a guy lose a shoe during the race, and he still got the job done.” Along with Oglesby, redshirt sophomore Dylan Sprecker placed eighth with a time of 30 minutes, 40.1 seconds, and graduate student Mason Strader placed twelfth with a time of 30 minutes, 52.7 seconds.
The NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California.