The NKU women's cross country team took a fourth-place finish at the GLVC Championships in Somers, Wis.
Women's results |
Men's results
SOMERS, Wis. – A trio of all-conference runners and a fourth-place finish highlighted one of the most successful Great Lakes Valley Conference meets in the history of the Northern Kentucky University women's cross country team.
NKU's top three performers on the day finished within 9.3 seconds of each other.
Jerrica Maddox led the way for the Norse as she finished the six-kilometer event at the Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in a time of 22:31.4.
Maddox, a junior from Covington, Ky., narrowly edged out teammate
Danielle Mercer (22:35.6) by 1.2 seconds for seventh place.
Kayla Justice wasn't too far behind, finishing in 11th place with a time of 22:40.7. All three women earned All-GLVC honors for their efforts, marking the first time in team history three members achieved the accolade in the same season.
Alisha Hansman, the team's lone senior, finished in 23rd place with a time of 23:15.5 while
Kelsey Gaffney (24:58.5; 72nd place) and
Kelly Johnson (26:06.0; 91st place) rounded out the roster for the Norse.
The times of Maddox (fourth), Mercer (fifth), Justice (sixth), Hansman (11th) and Gaffney (22nd) were good enough to place each performance in the top-25 all-time six-kilometer results.
NKU conjured up a total of 107 points in the 12-team event to finish fourth, just behind team champion Bellarmine. The Knights tallied 52 points to win their first championship in school history en route to derailing two-time defending champ Southern Indiana (54 points).
With as much excitement coming from the women's team, there was just as much disappointment from the men's team as the Norse were only able to finish seventh in the 11-team event.
Despite the disappointment, the Norse were still able to place one runner on the All-GLVC team and had runners earn three of the fastest eight-kilometer times in team history.
Joey Mueller, a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, placed 12th in the 140-runner field with a time of 25:31.2, the sixth-fastest eight-kilometer time in team history. Mueller also earned the team's sole spot on the all-conference team.
Ricky Harm (26:24.4; 41st) and Brendan Chewalk (26:25.1; 42nd) also ran times strong enough to place 23rd and 24th respectively on the top-25 eight-kilometer list.
Justin McIntyre (26:35.5; 48th) and Ryne Smith (26:35.2; 49th) rounded out the team's top five performances while Eric Dwyer (27:20.6; 85th) and Kevin Bonfield (27:33.6; 97th) completed the roster for NKU.
USI's 36 points were good enough to win an unprecedented sixth-consecutive team crown. It also marked the 18th time the Screaming Eagles have either won or shared the title.
Drury's Jaime Villa Zapatera (24:40.5) won his third consecutive individual men's title, the third harrier in GLVC history to win at least three. Kathryn Hague of Lewis Univeristy took the women's crown with a time of 21:28.2.
NKU will now get a little rest in before setting its sight on the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 20 in Louisville, Ky.
