Photo credit: Bridger Buchi
Photo credit: Bridger Buchi
Posted: Oct 21, 2016

Sabercats Round Off Nationals Squad at Oshkosh Open

WINNECONNE, Wis. - As a final test before the NCCAA National meet in Mississippi, the Sabercatscompeted in a small but competitive field at the Oshkosh Open hosted by UW-Oshkosh. KatieHolbrook finished first overall to lead the Women's Team to a first-place finish while CameronRankin led the fifth-place Men's Squad by finishing in 26th place.

The Basics

  • Placement: Women (6K) - 1st of 4 | Men (8K) - 5th of 5
  • Venue: Lake Breeze Golf Club | Winneconne, Wis.
  • Conditions: Cloudy, cool
  • Top Runners: Katie Holbrook (1st) | Cameron Rankin (26th)

Highlights - Women

  • Holbrook led the race wire-to-wire, and was just three seconds shy of breaking her own record (and the program record). The three-year runner came in at 24:15.07 to lead the day.
  • Eight runners hit the PR of their college careers, and are listed as follows: 
    • Sarah Vander Pluym (25:40.15)
    • Kimberly Richerson (25:49.90)
    • Anna Brown (26:59.01)
    • Madelyn Hansel (27:22.51)
    • Alicyn Wigdal (28:17.23)*
    • Nicole Verhalen (29:07.39)*
    • Lana Bruck (31:01.44)
    • Emily Moline (31:14.25)
  • Wigdal and Verhalen qualified for NCCAA Nationals at their final opportunity. The duo of runners round off a capacity squad of seven runners for the Sabercats.
  • Holbrook, Vander Pluym, and Richerson all finished in the top five.

Highlights - Men

  • The following runners on the Men's Squad set personal records:
    • Kurt Wagner (29:24.8)
    • Matthew Nutzhorn (32:51.1)
    • Ethan Gillespie (33:30)
    • James Rossiter (33:53.1)
    • Caleb Gillespie (41:45.2)
  • Nutzhorn and Rossiter both qualified for NCCAA Nationals with their showings.
  • Cameron Rankin's time of 29:04.3 was a mere six seconds shy of his PR, and was his best showing so far this season.
  • Joshua Kruit finished 31st overall with a season-best time of 30:01.4
From Coach Steinbart

"We had a good race to end the regular season with. The race was very low-key but the competition was tough as we raced against all UW schools. Lots of PR's all around. This was the encouragement that our team needed going into nationals. We are so excited to see what will happen. We'll be really concentrating on specific speed workouts in the next coming weeks. Again, this was a great way to end our regular season."

Up Next

  • With the regular season behind them, the Sabercats have three weeks to train for the NCCAANational Meet in Jackson, Mississippi on November 12th.
  • Click here for more information on the Women's Meet
  • Click here for more information on the Men's Meet