MONMOUTH, Ore. – Coach Matt Lowe and the Saint Martin's cross country teams have a lot to celebrate after women's team had the best finish in program history at the GNAC Championships and the men's team had their team best finish since 2011.
COMPLETE RESULTS
The women's team placed runner-up, the first time the program has had any team place in the top 3 at a GNAC championship. Their team time average for top 5 was 21:55 with 1:33 spread, which is collectively the fastest time average in program history.
Alauna Carstens, Cassidy Walchak-Sloan, and Sara Sabra earned their first ever cross country All-Conference honors after finishing in 4th, 6th, and 9th. Carstens also earned the Freshman of the Year Award for her incredible performance after running 21:16 and placing 4th overall, lowering her previous best time by six seconds.
Walchak-Sloan placed sixth with a time of 21:19, lowering her previous best by 38 seconds. Sabra placed ninth after running a 21:42, lowering her time by 24 seconds. Alisha Saucedo ran 22:31 and placed 24th, lowering her time by 41 seconds. Naomi Hartley placed 35th with a time of 22:49, lowering her time by 52 seconds. Kya Ramirez placed ran a 23:49 for a 46th place finish, lowering her time by 3 seconds. Faith Linthicum placed 76th with a 26:44, lowering her time by 1:38 and Abby Burton placed 77th after running a 26:50, lowering her time by four seconds.
The men's team placed fifth scoring 133 points, which was the highest team finish at a GNAC Championship since 2011. Their team time average for top 5 was 25:33 with 1:35 spread, which is collectively the fastest time average in program history.
Isaac Cortes was the first finisher for the men and placed 12th with a time of 24:35, lowering his previous best by 1:05. Kainalu Pagente placed 29th after running a 25:33, lowering his previous best by 12 seconds.
Jack Farrell ran a 25:42 and finished in 31st place. Michael Harwell finished right after him in 32nd with a time of 25:45, lowering his previous best by 28 seconds. Eli Dale placed 43rd with a 26:10, lowering his previous best by 8 seconds and
Rudu Wani placed 46th after running 26:30, lowering his best by 16 seconds. Lance Slichko placed 51st with a time of 26:42, lowering his season best by 32 seconds and Jaskaran Dhatt ran a 27:43 to finish in 60th place, lowering his best by 1:23. Finally, Steven Baltz placed 62nd after running a 27:46 to round up the Saints runners.
Coach Lowe shared his thoughts on his teams performance, "After the pre-season polls were released in August, our women were projected to finish sixth, and the men projected seventh. Based on my projections, I knew that we were entering the season severely under ranked. I truly believe that yesterday allowed us to tear down proverbial barriers to achieve something once considered unfathomable. This is a team sport, and each individual success is contributed by the efforts of each individual on the team. We practice together daily as a team, and that has enabled us to continue trusting each other and the training systems that we use daily. This weekend is exemplary to the start of a race without a finish line in sight. We're focusing on the journey itself, not the finish line, with endless possibilities, and the outcomes remaining open ended".
The Saints next meet will be the NCAA West Regionals in Billings, Montana on November 19.
