Posted: Oct 23, 2021

Tech Men place 2nd, Women 4th at GLIAC Cross Country Championships

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Michigan Tech men's cross country finished second, while women's cross country came in fourth Saturday at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Saginaw Valley State University. Fighting through extremely soggy course conditions, Clayton Sayen cracked the top-10 for the fourth time this season with a fourth place 8K time of 25:04.1 (5:02 pace). Sam Lange crossed 13th in 25:57.8, followed by teammates Luke Moore (21st - 26:31.7), Nick Niemi (23rd - 26:36.2), and Nick McKenzie (27th - 26:36.2). Grand Valley State placed six runners inside the top-10 to take the men's team title with 25 points. Michigan Tech followed with 76. Then Wayne State (82 pts.), Saginaw Valley State (10 pts.), and Northwood (139 pts.) rounded out the top five. The best time on course went to Isaac Harding (GVSU - 24:35.6).

Michelle Bollini again led the Husky women with an 11th place 6K time of 23:04.0. Sam Kurkowski came in 19th (23:31.7). Anabel Needham was 26th (23:51.7), followed by Chloe Strach (35th - 24:20.2), and Jenna Brewer (20:17.4). Grand Valley State swept the podium with all eight of the top-8 finishers to easily take the women's team conference title with just 15 points. Saginaw Valley State (63 pts), Wayne State (97 pts), Michigan Tech (109 pts), and Northern Michigan (130 points) were also top five schools.

"We had a good one out there today, with the men taking second and the women coming in fourth," commented head coach Kristina Owen. "The course conditions were wet, sloppy, and muddy, which our team handled incredibly well. Huskies are trained in the U.P., and they showed their grit, tenacity, and determination today. Both our men and women were fighting for every position, and I was incredibly proud of the fire they showed out there."

Freshman Ingrid Halverson took 39th for the Huskies (24:25.4), followed by Abby Martin (46th - 24:32.0), Theresa Passe (48th - 24:36.1), Lauren Konkol (58th - 25:01.3), Cedar Gordon (67th - 25:23.3), Mady VanWieren (88th - 26:31.3), and Miranda Meyers (12:04.0 3K DNF).

"Our ladies are headed in the right direction and building momentum as we head into regionals," Owen said. "Michelle and Anabel both bounced back from tough races at Lewis to have great ones today. Notably, we gave Anabel as much rest time as possible after US Ski Camp in Utah and she proved she is better than ever. I'm also very proud of our two women who earned all-GLIAC honors, Michelle and Sam."

"The women took the step up today that the men took at the Lewis Crossover," commented assistant coach Robert Young." It was great to see them come into championship form."

Past the top-five men's results was 30th place Henry Snider (26:45.5), then Robbie Watling (33rd - 26:51.8), Isaac Steers (34th - 26:53.3), Logan Lukonic (42nd - 27:06.8), Ben Passolt (47th - 27:21.0), Tucker Ringhand (56th - 27:49.2), and senior Braden Reichl (10:29.5 3K DNF).

"They knew they had a job to do today and they went out and did it," Owen said of the Husky men. "The GLIAC is a strong conference, and taking second place shows we're a team to be reckoned with. We saw some really nice racing across the board today, including several men who earned all-GLIAC honors by scoring in the Top-20."

"Our men competed at a championship level at a championship meet today," Young pointed out.

Next up for Huskies cross country is the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Southern Indiana, Saturday, November 6 at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana. The NCAA National Championships are Saturday, November 20 in Saint Leo, Florida.