Concordia men first, women second at Mount Marty Invite
Concordia University traveled to Yankton for the Mount Marty Invite on Saturday. The Bulldog men finished first, while the women finished second overall in the team competition. A total of 13 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams competed in the event.
A total of three Bulldogs finished in the top 10 overall in the men’s 8k race. Ben Sievert (Franenmuth, Mich.) continued his strong freshman season with a first place finish on Saturday. Sievert finished with a time of 25:40.22 and was just in front of Andy Coy of Dakota State, who ran a time of 25:41.31. Adam Prahlow (St. Louis, Mo.) came in eighth overall with a time of 26:09.62, and Hayden Hohnholt (Saratoga, Wyo.) was ninth at 26:15.61. Beau Billings (Valentine, Neb.) finished 11th overall with a time of 26:25.16. Creighton Pearse (Kearney, Neb.) finished 23rd at 26:57.83. The Bulldogs ran without top runner Colin Morrissey (Omaha, Neb.) but won the team competition with a team score of 51. Morningside College came in second at 67, and Dordt College was third at 71. A total of 148 runners competed in the event.
The women’s race featured 138 total competitors. Sarah Kortze (Rockford, Ill.) was the top overall finisher for the Bulldogs. Kortze finished second overall with a time of 18:21.72. Only Courtney Schall, who ran unattached in the event, finished ahead of Kortze. Jena Schwalenberg (Columbus, Neb.), who was last week’s GPAC Runner-of-the-Week, finished fourth overall with a time of 18:22.91. Martha Meineke (Denver, Colo.) also finished in the top 10, coming in ninth overall with a time of 18:53.70. Anna Meyer (Seward, Neb.) and Renee Williams (Lincoln, Neb.) came in 24th and 25th, respectively, for Concordia on the day. Morningside College, who is 11th in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Poll, won the team competition on Saturday with a team score of 54. Concordia, who was 18th in the NAIA Top 25 Poll, finished close behind in second with a team score of 59. Dordt College finished third with a score of 87.
The Bulldogs are now off until the GPAC Championships. This year’s GPAC Championship will be held in Lincoln on November 5.