December 12, 2022 | by Taylor Pill

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Maranatha Cross Country Teams welcomed a variety of new runners to the programs this year, as both squads garnered key experience, especially in the NCCAA postsesaon.

The Men's Cross Country team captured their second consecutive NCCAA North Region Championship, and Jeremy Fopma tore his own page out of the NCCAA history books by becoming the first runner to capture four consecutive individual titles at NCCAA Nationals.

Fopma's victory came at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Trails in Joplin, Missouri - the very site where he captured his third straight national title last year. Fopma beat the rest of the field by 30 seconds, pacing the Sabercats to a podium finish of third place. Every one of the 10 Sabercat men set their season-best time that day, and they finished an agonizing one point shy of second, as Ozark Christian's 91 points beat the Sabercats out neck and neck.

Amber Brungard was at the front of the pack for the women, as the graduate ran the third-fastest time in program history - a 20:30 5K at NCCAA Nationals. Behind Brungard was newcomer Anna Morken, who was just 13 seconds shy of breaking into the program Top 20, running Nationals with a time of 22:39.

Of those that ran at Nationals, every single runner set a season-best time on the day as the women's team finished 4th.

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Each runner made significant strides in the season. A list of all PRs and awards is below:

*PR | #Program Top-20 Time 

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AWARDS

In the semester's-end athletic awards assembly, Coach John Warnke and the coaching staff highlighted standout runners from the season, as the team recognized both national award winners and team awards:

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For more on the program, visit their team page HERE (Men) and HERE (Women).