MEQUON, Wis. - Both the Men's and the Women's Cross Country Teams showed signs of a promising season ahead at Concordia-Wisconsin. The Men's Team finished 10th of 11 while the Women brought home 8th place out of 13.

The Basics

• Results: Men - 10/11 | Women - 8/13
• Location: Mequon, Wis.
• Venue: Concordia University-Wisconsin

Highlights - Men

• The Men's squad began the day with their 8K race, and saw their top five runners all finish in less than a two-minute span, which showed proof of strong pack running. Sophomore Cameron Rankin was the fastest on the day, as he finished with a 31:07.4 time, which was not more than two minutes away from his peak time during the 2015 season.
• All five of the Sabercats' top runners qualified for NCCAA Nationals at season's end. Veterans Rankin, Kruit, and Wagner will be joined by newcomers Jeremiah Doak and Rory Massey in Jackson in November. 

Team at a Glance - Men's 8K

• 46 - Cameron Rankin - 31:07.4
• 50 - Josh Kruit - 31:13.4 
• 55 - Rory Massey - 31:40.7 
• 59 - Kurt Wagner - 32:20.3 
• 62 - Jeremiah Doak - 32:52.6 
• 70 - Timothy Kile - 34:25.7 
• 71 - Arthur Nutzhorn - 35:58.9

Highlights - Women

• The Sabercat Women saw three runners finish within 15 second of each other towards the front of the pack. Up front, Katie Holbrook was at it again, as she finished 7th overall while posting a 24:41.2 time - just under a minute and a half from the leader. 
• The top five Sabercat women all secured an early berth in Jackson, Mississippi and NCCAA Nationals at the end of the year. Nicole Verhalen and Alicyn Wigdal showed that they will be strong contenders to qualify for Nationals as well, as they missed the NCCAA Nationals qualifying mark of 29:45 by two and 49 seconds, respectively.

Team at a Glance - Women's 6K

• 7  - Katie Holbrook - 24:41.2 
• 42 - Kimberly Richerson - 27:25.4 
• 45 - Sarah Vander Pluym - 27:33.4 
• 47 - Anna Brown - 27:40.9 
• 64 - Madelyn Hansel - 29:23.8 
• 65 - Nicole Verhalen - 29:46.8 
• 68 - Alicyn Wigdal - 30:34.2

From Coach Ruth

• Head Coach Ruth Steinbart was pleased with the showing: 
  • Steinbart on the Men: "Our top 5 guys qualified for Nationals so that's something to be really excited about. I saw lots of improvements in pacing during this race and some of our runners that were at the end of the pack past year moved up several places."
  • Steinbart on the Women: "Again, I saw lots of improvements on pacing and some of our girls who were injured last year did a great job racing. Again, great improvements on the part of returning runners and some great times from new people."

Next Meet

• Both squads will travel to Augustana College to compete in the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational on Friday, September 23rd. The Women will begin the day at 3:00 followed by the men at 3:45