Posted: Nov 12, 2016
Women Take Second, Men Third at NCCAA Nationals
CLINTON, Miss. --- At the pinnacle event of the season, the Sabercat Men's Cross Country squad saw their national championship three-peat thwarted by the Bruins of Bob Jones University and the Ambassadors of OzarkChristian College, and ultimately finished in third place with the help of strong pack running and three PR's.
On the Women's side, the story remained the same, as the Sabercats finished second behind their old rivals - the Archers of Moody Bible Institute. The Sabercats managed to finish in front of two schools from the South Region: the Bob Jones University Bruins and the Eagles of Toccoa Falls; and were led by their season-long frontrunner Katie Holbrook, who posted a time of 19:42 - her best time at the NCCAA National Meet in her three-year career.
The Basics
- Placement: Women (5K) - 2nd of 4 | Men (8K) - 3rd of 6
- Venue: Choctaw Trails | Clinton, Miss.
- Conditions: Sunny, Mild
- Top Runners: Katie Holbrook (3rd - 19:42) | Josh Kruit (8th - 29:23)
Highlights - Women
- Holbrook repeated her story from the 2015 National Meet by finishing in third place overall. The Senior edged her 2015 Nationals time by 11 seconds to finish at 19:42 in the 5K. Holbrook has now finished in the top three in each of her appearances at the National meet.
- The Sabercats showed strong pack running, as their middle five runners finished in a 63-second span.
- In their first 5K of the season, the Sabercat runners and their times are noted below. Those runners with PR's denoted with an asterisk; those with a season PR are noted with an arrow:
- 3rd - Katie Holbrook (19:43.40)^
- 13th - Kimberly Richerson (21:09.97)*
- 14th - Sarah Vander Pluym (21:15.82)^
- 21st - Madelyn Hansel (21:51.47)*
- 22nd - Anna Brown (22:07.30)*
- 23rd - Alicyn Wigdal (22:12.60)*
- 34th - Nicole Verhalen (23:46.10)*
- Hansel shattered her 2015 Nationals time by over two minutes, as she posted a time of 24:16 last year.
- Five of seven runners posted PR's while Holbrook and Vander Pluym registered their best 5K time of the season.
- All times are compared to the 5K splits from the six 6K events that the Sabercats competed in this season.
- The total time of 1:46:34 was the Sabercats' best squad time this year.
Highlights - Men
- Josh Kruit led the Men's Squad with an 8th-place time of 29:23, which is his best time of the season and just under 30 seconds shy of his collegiate PR.
- Three runners posted a collegiate PR while Josh Kruit registered his best time this season.
- The Sabercat runners and their overall results are noted below. Those runners with PR's denoted with an asterisk; those with a season PR are noted with an arrow:
- 8th - Josh Kruit (29:23.76)^
- 9th - Kurt Wagner (29:32.52)
- 17th - Cameron Rankin (30:11.46)
- 22nd - Robert Kile (30:34.89)*
- 23rd - Rory Massey (30:50.45)*
- 24th - Jeremiah Doak (31:00.51)*
- 42nd - Matthew Nutzhorn (33:20.75)
- The squad's combined time of 2:30:33 was their best of the season.
- The team showed their characteristically-strong pack running as the top six runners finished in a 97-second span.
Wrap-up
- Both squads finish their season today. The Women's Squad finishes the year with three top-five finishes, and Holbrook takes home top-10 honors in six of the seven events to end her MBU career.
- Holbrook ends her three-year tenure by holding both the top 5K time (19:21 in 2014) and 6K time (24:13 on October 8th) in MBU Women's Cross Country History.
- Both Sabercat squads boasted the maximum seven runners at the national meet and recorded the best time as a team as season.
