Briar Cliff Invitational

• PREVIEW
• RECAP/RESULTS

The Event... Northwestern will run in the Briar Cliff Invitational this weekend in McCook Lake, S.D. The women's race will begin at 10:00 am on Saturday morning (Oct. 11), followed by the men's race around 10:45 am.

The Field... 12 teams are expected to compete this weekend in McCook Lake, including Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Concordia, Dakota State, Dakota Wesleyan, Dana, Dordt, Iowa Lakes, Midland Lutheran, Morningside, Mount Marty and Northwestern.

Last Year... Northwestern won the women's team championship last year at the BCU Invitational. Battling hot, humid and windy conditions, the Red Raiders scored 40 points, 10 better then second place Wayne State. NWC placed four runners in the top 15, led by Charity Miles and Olivia Johnson. Miles ran the 5K course in 18:29 and placed second, followed by Sara Hess in 10th place and a time of 19:52. Stephanie Powell placed 12th with a time of 20:09.

The men's team finished in sixth place out of 11 teams with a team score of 120. Danny Owens led the Red Raiders with a 13th place finish and a time of 27:58. Kyle Gerhard crossed the line in 28:37 and in 20th place followed by Jack Peterson in 31st place (29:15).

Last Time Out...The Northwestern College cross country teams competed at the DSU/Herb Blakely Invitational on Sept. 27 in Madison, S.D. and the women's team placed fourth while the men's team placed fifth.

The women's team finished with 86 points and placed fourth out of 10 teams. Ingrid Carlson led the Red Raiders with a 13th place finish as she ran the 5000m in 19:48. Two other NWC runners, Sara Hess and Jenna Sorenson, placed in  the top 20. Hess crossed the line in 19:55 and placed 15th while Sorenson finished just three places behind (18th) with a time of 19:58. Steph Powell (20:02) and Teresa Scholten (20:06) were the other runners that scored points for NWC as they finished 22nd and 25th, respectively.

The Red Raider men's team finished in fifth place out of 11 teams with 142 points. Leading the pack for the NWC men was sophomore Danny Owens with a time of 27:46 in the 8000m race. He placed 22nd overall. Jack Peterson crossed the line in 24th place with a time of 27:50 and was followed by Kyle Gerhard (28:13) and Adam Verhoef (28:44) in 33rd and 43rd place, respectively. Andy Norris placed 49th with a time of 29:19.

Next up... Both teams will run in the 15th Annual Graphic Edge CC Invite, hosted by the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D., on Saturday, Oct. 25. It will be the final tune-up before the GPAC Championships on Nov. 8 for the Red Raiders.