Tabor College hosted its home cross country meet Saturday at Cottonwood point, with the women placing seventh out of 15 teams behind Christiana Addison and the men placing 10th out of 16 teams behind Zac Rembolt.
Pete Richert, an All-Conference performer his freshman year, competed in his first race since suffering a life-altering injury in Iraq.
“This race was a huge step in the journey back for Pete,” coach Karol Hunt said. “It took a lot of determination on his part to run with competitive college runners, and I am really proud of Pete and what he did today.”
(For more on Pete Richert, see page 1A.)
All told, 233 runners ran, with 126 men completing the 8-kilometer course and 107 finishing the 5-kilometer women’s course.
Addison (16th, 20:09) paced the women for the second straight race. Liz Kleinsasser (25th, 20:28) finished hot on her heels, and four Bluejays finished 23 seconds apart: Jera Teselle (48th, 21:25), Kelli Kopper (52nd, 21:44), Leah Kopper (54th, 21:47) and Carrie Schroeder (56th, 21:48).
With 181 points, the Tabor women placed between Friends (174) and Bethel (188). The Tabor men scored 273, placing 124 behind McPherson (149).
Rembolt rebounded from a tough race in Colorado to lead the men to the line in 29 minutes, 29 seconds and placing 59th. Zach Gould (60th, 29:32) finished almost literally on Remboldt’s heels, with Ric Johnson (58th, 29:49) following closely. Dan Sigley (65th, 30:16) and Justin Ball (94th, 32:24) also ran.
“As a team we are just starting to get into race shape,” coach Karol Hunt said. “So far that process of getting into race shape is taking a little longer, but teams progress at different levels. This meet is one step toward reaching our major goal—running at our best on November 8 at the KCAC meet.”
Coming—Jock’s Nitch cross country invitational, hosted by Emporia State on Friday is Tabor’s next scheduled meet. The women run first at 5 p.m.
