Posted: Oct 21, 2023

Got the Gold

October 21, 2023 | by Ashley Nerat

STORY

ANKENY, Iowa -- It was a successful day for the Sabercats at the NCCAA Regionals. Both teams finished in first place with multiple runners finishing with season-best times and personal records. First-year head coach Haly Hendrick received coach of the year for the NCCAA North Region. David Cheloudtchenko, Shem Abdnour, Anna Morken, and Natalie Shetter were all awarded "All-Region" titles.

The women started the day out strong with Natalie Shetter and Anna Morken finishing in second and third place. Finishing with a total team time of 1:54:21, the girls recorded a score of 46 points, earning them a first-place win out of the total five competing teams. Shetter and Morken both finished with times that placed them into the program's Top 20.

Each girl earned a season best-time, while Morken earned herself a new career PR as well. Although the women's team as a whole already qualified for the national championship, Hannah Hartfelder and Hailee Butler both earned their individual qualification times.

The men did just as well on the day, also finishing in first place out of the three competing schools, with a team time of 2:34:24. They earned a total of 35 points on the day and had two runners (David Cheloudtchenko and Shem Abdnour) finish in the top five. All but two of the men set season-best times, with Shem Abdnour, Andrew Centifanto, Curtis Fink, and Felipe Diaz all achieving new career PRs.

The Sabercats will continue to push these next few weeks, as they prepare for the National Championship being held in Warsaw, Indiana on November 10th. With almost every player improving their times in each of the past three races, we can expect that both teams will be aiming for nothing less than the same in this final race of the season.

SOUND BITE:

"I could not be more excited for these teams," said head coach Haly Hendricks. "They worked so hard for these titles. After crunching the numbers going into this race the girls were slated to place third and the guys were in a tight fight for first. We asked them to dig deep, to be willing to be in pain, to leave it all on the course, and to remember for Whom we run. And that's exactly what they did. They had nothing left when they crossed the finish line.

Amber and I were looking at the numbers and were looking at each other like 'Did we just win this?' The excitement and joy in the moment we told them that they had both officially won was incredible. The best part was they all gave the glory right back to God. He has answered so many specific prayer requests for the team this year and has blessed us beyond measure. Ephesians 3:20 has been our mantra all season 'exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think'."

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