Tabor women’s cross country takes second place at conference meet

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
The Tabor College women finished second and the men fifth at the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference cross-country championships hosted Saturday by Ottawa University at Pomona Lake.

The Bluejay women scored 71 points, trailing conference champion Kansas Wesleyan with 58 points.

“We ran this course two weeks ago in preparation for the conference meet and that helped us quite a bit,” coach Karol Hunt said.

Leading the way for Tabor was freshman Heidi Schmidt, who covered the course in 21 minutes, 27 seconds to place second.

Also claiming top-10 finishes were Angie Jost, who placed third (21:35), and Amber Wiens, who placed eighth (22:11).

Following them were teammates Tiffany Stevens (25th, 23:35) and Rebekah Lockhart (35th, 24:30).

“Amber lowered her time by 14 seconds, Tiffany lowered hers by 12 seconds and Rebekah by 1:18,” Hunt said. “It takes all five for a strong team performance.

“Tiffany and Rebekah really stepped it up today-they both showed a lot of determination.”

Hunt said the competition knew her team would be tough.

“Coming into this meet, we knew we were the team to beat and we knew what we had to do,” she said. “The last time we faced Ottawa we tied, we were two points ahead of Sterling, and nine points behind Friends.

“We also knew the final score would be really close,” she added. “I am very proud of the women in rising to the challenge.

While the runner-up finish was a great leap from last season’s fifth-place finish, Hunt said it’s unfortunate other elements entered into the final placing of her team.

“Although we are happy with the runner up position, we’re also pretty disappointed,” she said. “The winners didn’t have a full team all season, but picked up some individuals from another fall sport just for this meet.

“It takes away from what we have been working really hard for all season,” she added. “It’s disappointing to see the win-at-all-costs philosophy creeping into our sport.”

The Tabor men were led by Anthony Bartlett, who place 24th in 31:14.

Following him were Mike Norris (28th, 31:51), Kevin Larson (31st, 32:14), Matt Lynam (32nd, 32:17) and Jeff Anenson (34th, 32:24).

“Probably our most consistent runner right now is Mike,” Hunt said. “It was good to have Anthony back from an injury as well.

“The conference meet is our most important meet of the season because it’s a benchmark of how we compare to the other KCAC teams,” she added.

“Unfortunately, the men were not able to advance this year, but it was difficult to look over to the sidelines and see last year’s No. 1 and No. 2 runner standing there.”

Both Pete Richert and Kyle Larson suffered season-ending injuries this year.

“We have no seniors, so all will return next season.”

Coming-Tabor will compete on Saturday in the Region IV meet at Pioneers Park in Lincoln, Neb. The women will run at 10:30 a.m. and the men at 11:15 a.m.

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