The streak continued for the Concordia University, Nebraska women's cross country teams as they placed in the top 20 at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships for the 14th consecutive year, taking 15th this past weekend at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wis. The 2007 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, were ran on Saturday Nov. 17. Simon Fraser (99) took the women's team title while Malone College (59) won the men's championship. Region III foe Black Hills State was runner-up on the men's side with 144 points.
For Concordia the women scored 406 points to take 15th. On the men's side the Bulldogs finished 22 second, scoring 466.
The women's run of 14 consecutive top 20 team finishes at the NAIA National Championships dates back to 1994. During the run the Bulldogs have been runner-up four times, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004.
"We were excited to have our women continue to place in the top 20 at the national meet," added Head Coach Dr. Kregg Einspahr. "Such a tradition speaks to the tremendous group of women, their work ethic and attitudes, which have been part of our running program over the years."
Junior Kayla Engel was the top runner for Concordia, completing the course in a time of 18:59.70, 80th overall (59th among runners competing with a team). The Bulldogs continued their trend of finishing fairly close together time was as Katie Swanson crossed the tape in 19:14.30 (106th overall). Taylor Felix was right on her heels in 112th (19:16.30). Jacque Wiseman was 134th with a time of 19:30.00.
Although happy to see both teams in the top 25 at the meet Coach Einspahr throught the young Bulldogs could have done even better.
"Both our mens and womens teams got a little out of place by running too conservatively in the first mile. This probably cost us quite a few points toward the team scoring," Einspahr said. "This was a mistake of inexperience, and I would guess our runners will have a chance to learn from this for next year's season."
On the men's side sophomore Zach Meineke was the top finisher for the Bulldogs, covering the 8k course in 25:57.40, 62nd overall and 44th among those competing on a team. Fellow sophomore David Goeglein was the 100th competitor to cross the finish line overall (26:15.70).
Also in the Bulldogs top five runners were Bryan Felker (140th-26:33.9), Jordan Tucker (164th-26:47.50) and Tyson Billings (185th-16:58.00)
"All in all, we had a tremendous season," said Einspahr. "I thought both teams got a lot out of their talents and abilities. They have been a joy to coach."
The Bulldogs return a number of runners next season and will look to build on this year's experience.
"Both teams are fairly young," added Einspahr. Of our runners that competed at the National Championship, we return 13 of the 14 runners for next year."