Staff Writer- Nathan Swanson
The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams competed this last weekend, Saturday, Nov. 1st, in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championship. The MIAC race took place at the Highland 9 Cross Country Trailhead at Hamline University in St. Paul. The Men’s team would take 5th place out of 11th, with a score of 121. The Women’s team took 3rd place out of 11 teams, with a score of 116.
Leading up to the MIAC Championship, there were a lot of emotions from the players. With so much to be excited about and look forward to, there was also nervousness about how it would go and anticipation for what was to come. Overall, the MIAC is one of the highlights of the season, and a favorite memory for many after the season concludes.
“The energy was insane and the team camaraderie that I felt was also very fun…”, First-year Addison Enfield said. “A lot of people were nervous, but it didn’t hinder anyone’s performance, I don’t think, just because of how the whole team reacted at the start line and having fun and building off of each other”.
She also talked about how the MIAC brings a unique feeling that separates itself from other events. “Mostly, I think just going out and having fun and leaving it all out on the course. MIAC is a different kind of energy than any of the other meets that I have raced this season…”, Enfield said.
For the Women, Senior Molly Liston led the team with a time of 21:46.8. She finished third out of a total of 169 runners. Enfield had the second-best time for Gustavus as she finished with a time of 22:42.7, placing her 14th against the other runners. Enfield was super proud of how the team came together and how the focus was there from the beginning.
“I was most proud with how well we worked together… we all just ran for each other and ended up placing third which was really good…we ended up placing higher than expected, and I think that was due to just running for more than ourselves and running for the team,” Enfield said.
First-year Anna Forbord came in 18th place, with a time of 23:00.1. First-years Francesca Geffre and Anna Gould ran at 23:59.4, which placed them within the top five of Gustavus runners and tied them overall at 47th. Junior Mackenzie Murphy ran at 24:03.9, which put her in 56th place. First-year Siiri Anderson ran at 25:11.1, which put her 88th overall.
Among the Men, Senior Will Janzen led the way with a time of 26:11.6. This put him in 16th place overall out of 164 runners. One of the things that Janzen took note of was the number of Gustavus alumni who came out to support the team. “The Gustie alums that showed up definitely stood out, that was really fun to see”, Janzen said.
He also talked about one of his favorite memories from his time in Cross Country.
“It’s been fun to see the team change over four years… transmit similar values of hard work and having fun over time I think that’s cool and interesting to see”.
Junior Nick Brauer finished 19th overall, with a time of 26:25.3. Junior Evan Pouliot came in 23rd place with a time of 26:39.8. Senior Soren Sackreiter came in 39th place with a time of 27:14.9. First-year Caden Riga came in 48th place with a time of 27:30.5. Janzen, Brauer, Pouliot, Sackreiter, and Riga solidified the top five for Gustavus runners that day. Sophomore Matthew Berge came to the finish in 58th place with a time of 27:48.2. Sophomore Ethan Cox came in 60th overall with a time of 27:50.6.
With the MIAC over, there are many positives to take away from an overall successful and fun weekend.
“We were pretty prepared, we were hopeful we would have a good day, we were excited, ready to have fun but work hard too… it was really fun to see people have great races…”, Janzen said. Looking ahead, the team has the Fall Finale coming up. This event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8th at St John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
“They are looking forward to a fun race to conclude their season, it will be a great time. It’s the end of the season and people are looking forward to resetting and gearing up for track,” Janzen added. Enfield also discussed the team’s thoughts heading into the Fall Finale.
“A lot of the people on our team are very excited for Fall Finale, especially on the girls’ side. It’s also a road race, which means that it is usually pretty fast, and I think people are just excited to see how fast they can run a 5k after the 6k training. It’s a fun atmosphere to end the season on a good note,” said Enfield.