The Panthers Cross Country team traveled to Nashville, Tenn. to take on fellow conference opponents in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championships early Friday morning.
The women finished in eighth place as a team with a total of 181 points, while the men took 10th place as a team with 240 total points. Belmont claimed the women’s team championship with a total of 40 points, while Drake led the way for the men’s team with 41 points.
UNI had four different women secure either season or career best outings on Friday morning. Emma Hoins finished in 14th individually in the 6k race with a career-best time of 21:39. Kate Crawford finished in 26th individually with a season-best time of 22:07. Eden Mueller finished 41st individually with a career-best time of 22:27.
Ella Popenhagen came in 47th with a time of 22:42, while Sophia Jungling came in 54th with a time of 22:52. To finish out the Panther women, Kaylee Woolery (23:03), Kayla Young (23:17), and Brooke O’Brien (23:35) placed 64th, 69th, and 78th respectively.
For the UNI men’s team Caleb Schumaker led the way for the Panthers with a time of 25:37 in the 8k race to finish in 28th place individually. Brady Griebel came in 50th with a time of 26:14, while Tyler Colvin and Carson Owens finished in 57th and 59th with times of 26:22 and 26:23.
Closing it out for the men’s team was Colin Lillie (27:17), Josh Gormley (27:27), Caleb Kass (27:31). The trio finished in 68th, 72nd, and 74th place individually.
Belmont took first place for the women with 40 points, followed by Bradley in second place with 59. Illinois State came in third, while Drake finished in fourth place.
For the men’s teams Drake took first place with 41 points, followed by Bradley and Belmont with 71 points and 72 points respectively. Illinois State came in fourth with 81.
The UNI Cross Country team will compete again on Nov. 10 as the Panthers will race in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships. The Midwest Regional Championship will be hosted by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
