Cross Country Participates in NCCAA DII National Championship
Joplin, MO: On Friday, November 11th, the women's and men's cross-country teams journeyed to Joplin, Missouri, to participate in the NCCAA DII National Championship.
The field was comprised of 26 institutions, with a total of 53 women and 70 men toeing the starting line for the 5K (3.1 miles) women's race and 8K (5 miles) men's race. The course was challenging, and cold weather conditions only made things more interesting.
On the day, the ladies were paced once more by Sara Cecil, who crossed the finish line in a time of 21:41 to earn the 16th position. Also performing for the team were Kaitlynn Ratliff (23:00- 25th), and Olivia Inskeep (23:26- 31st). All three Lady Eagle qualifiers gave a solid effort.
In the men's event, Koby Proffitt led the squad. His season-best time of 30:01 earned him 22nd position. He was followed closely by a pack of Eagles, as Micah Blankenship (30:06-24th), Kenny Wilburn (30:15-26th), and Collin Ramey (31:08-29th) crossed soon afterward. Dakota Owens (32:11- 80th), was the fifth man to complete the course, while Gerald Estep (33:45-62nd) finished shortly behind. Each runner gave a commendable performance, and the club finished in 5th place.
This meet concludes the season for cross country, but a solid core of speedsters will return for next year's squad.