Posted: Oct 26, 2019

Cross Country Finishes Second, Third at GLIAC Championships

WESTVILLE, Ind. – Six Michigan Tech cross country runners picked up All-GLIAC honors from the Purdue Northwest University Westville campus at the 2019 GLIAC Championships on Saturday (Oct. 26). The Huskies finished second in the men's competition and third in the women's race.

In the women's 6K race, senior Emily Byrd crossed the finish line in eighth with a time of 21:46.5 for a new collegiate personal best and First Team All-GLIAC honors, giving her four All-GLIAC finishes for her illustrious Michigan Tech career. Byrd was joined in the top 20 by sophomore Gabrielle Feber, with an 18th-place finish in 22:24.7 to pick up Second Team honors. Sophomore Sam Kurkowski, and juniors Carly Huggins and Amanda Kautzer narrowly missed out on All-GLIAC finishes but still put in terrific performances on the course with finishes of 21st (22:35.8) for Kurkowski, 22nd (22:39.9) for Huggins, and 23rd (22:43.9) for Kautzer.

Also running for the Huskies in the competition was freshman Mady Van Wieren (23:07.4) in 31st, senior Sarah Goble (23:11.7) in 37th, senior Madisyn Estkowski (23:16.2) in 46th, sophomore Michelle Bollini (23:20.6) in 47th, senior Julia Manzano (23:25.2) in 49th, freshman Lauren Konkol (23:37.9) in 56th, and freshman Abby Martin (23:48.9) in 61st.

The Michigan Tech women finished with 92 team points, putting them three points behind Saginaw Valley State and 17 points in front of Wayne State for third place. Grand Valley State won its 19th consecutive GLIAC title as the Lakers scored 17 team points and placed five runners inside the top 10.

Junior Braden Reichl was the first Husky to cross the finish line of the men's 8K race, taking fourth in a time of 24:29.2 to edge out teammate and senior Matt Pahl, who took fifth with a time of 24:29.7. Sophomore Clayton Sayen made it three Michigan Tech runners earning First Team All-GLIAC when he completed the race in 24:37.5 to take ninth. Senior Brendan Klynstra sprinted across the finish line in 25:09.2 to place 18th and earn him Second Team All-GLIAC honors. Junior Nate Carey finished with a time of 25:22.0 to place 21st, just missing out on a Second Team All-GLIAC finish.

Juniors Chase Scheel and Robbie Watling finishing one after the other, with Scheel crossing the line at 25:34.4 to place 29th and Watling running a time of 25:35.9 in the 8K to place 30th. Also running for the Huskies on Saturday was junior Bobby Beggs (25:38.4) in 37th, junior Zach Werth (25:59.8) in 50th, junior Luke Moore (26:01.3) in 52nd, freshman Lucas Betzoldt (26:17.8) in 66th, and sophomore Ben Passolt (26:30.4) in 72nd.

The Huskies scored 57 points to take second place in the team standings, finishing 13 points behind champions Grand Valley State and four points ahead of third-place Saginaw Valley State. The Lakers placed five runners inside the top 20 to score 44 points, winning them their 18th consecutive GLIAC Championship trophy.

"Both teams ran pretty tough today. We got the results that were expected, but we did want more," said head coach Jake Isaacson. "I'm pretty satisfied overall, but we are not settling heading into the Regional Championships."

Michigan Tech will now turn its focus to the 2019 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship on November 9 in Evansville, Indiana. The top three teams in the men's and women's races will qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships in Sacramento, California. The women's race will begin at 10:30 a.m. CST, and the men's race will run at 11:45 a.m. CST.