The Hamline University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams have had a great season. The season closed out on Nov. 15 with several strong individual performances and excitement for future seasons.
The team is young, and those fresh new members showed their strengths during the meeting. With new achievements and several things to highlight, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) North Regional Meet was an incredibly successful one.
“On the men’s side we beat a team from the conference that got us at Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), so it was great to see that. [The] women improved from 25th place to 23rd this year,” Coach Devon Monson said via email when asked about his thoughts on the tournament.
Individual highlights include junior Brooke Baumann, who finished 76th place, with a time of 24:05.7. Other standout performances include senior Alicia Maddux and junior Anabel Bradley crossed the line at 134th and 149th, respectively. Maddux finished with a time of 25:14.5 and Bradley finished with a time of 25:32.9.
For the men, senior Lucas LiaBraaten finished first for the Pipers, coming in at 146th place and with a time of 28:14.3. Finishing close behind, Hamline sophomore Wade Tuggle came in 162nd place with a time of 28:49.7.
In terms of the future of the season, it looks to be exciting.
“We do lose some seniors, and they will be missed, but we had a lot of younger runners get great experience running at the NCAA Regional and that will serve us well next year,” Monson said via email.
To exemplify his point, sophomores Tessa Meyers, Briyanna Burkhardt and Lilli Carpentier, plus first-year Avery Smieja, all rounded out the scoring for the team, putting them just under the 200th place mark.
For the men, junior Jasper Roetter Gresback, sophomores Luis Kruchten and Brandon Li and first-years Brady Sullivan and Jayden Rentz helped to round out their team’s score.
Monson has nothing but good things to say about the young team, explaining that they strive to get better every day and work hard towards their goals.
“The energy of the group, lots of them finished the race and on the ride back were already asking about their next steps in training and building off their fall season,” Monson said via email.
The next steps for the team include taking a week or two off, then beginning to prepare for the indoor and outdoor track season. With this strong and determined team, as well as their energetic atmosphere, the next few months should be one to watch.
The NCAA Championship meet, which took place on Nov. 22, is the last step in the cross country season.
Unfortunately, neither the men’s nor women’s teams have anyone qualifying for the tournament, but the high scoring and optimistic team gives hope that the future will look different.
Winter track season opens with an intrasquad taking place in Walker Fieldhouse. The cross country team will continue to shine and achieve their goals. With an almost year-round season, this team will be an inspiring one to watch. Their hard work paid off at this regional meet, and will continue to do so in the near future.
