Men win team title, Newhouse is individual champ for women's squad at Seminole Valley Stampede

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Mount Mercy men's cross country team claimed the team title while Deanna Newhouse earned the women's individual championship with a school-record time at the Seminole Valley Stampede on Saturday morning at Seminole Valley Park.

Saturday's win was the third in four events for the Mustang men this season. Mount Mercy had four runners in the top 20 and earned the top spot in the 20-team field with 74 points. Missouri Baptist was runner-up with 97 points, followed by Evangel (164), Judson (177), and Coe (188).

The Mustangs totaled nine PRs and a season-best on Saturday. Brady Cortez was Mount Mercy's top finisher, placing 11th with a time of 26:32. Ryan Clancy was 14th (26:40), Sergio Lizarraga 15th (26:42), Oscar Lopez 19th (26:49), Ryan Mitchell 38th (27:16), Quinn Swift 74th (28:32), and Lukas Lamparek 95th (29:09) to round out the top seven for the Mustangs.

"Brady Cortez was a beast today," said Head Coach Tad Hulst. "He had an awesome race, looking focused and confident the whole way. Our top pack continues to impress with their consistency to run together and patiently attack the race. Our front five of Brady, Ryan, Sergio, Oscar, and Ryan ran well today to seal the win and it shows how tight this team is when they rotate positions on the team each week in running for each other. Our depth took a great step forward too with some really nice PR's. I saw a lot of focus and mental toughness against a deep field."

Despite seven PRs and four season bests, Mount Mercy was denied the women's team title for the first time this fall, finishing fourth of 16 teams. Missouri Baptist was the team champ with 66 points, barely holding off Viterbo, who was runner-up with 67 points. MidAmerica Nazarene was third (104), Mount Mercy fourth (123), and Graceland fifth (142).

Newhouse dominated the women's 5K, beating Mia Reed of Missouri Baptist to the finish line by almost 20 seconds. She crossed the finish line in a school-record 18:19 to Reed's 18:46. Mount Mercy's top seven also included J'Lyn Knutson (7th/19:02), Abby Rinderknecht (36th/20:22), Ariana Lopez (50th/20:49), Jessa Day (53rd/20:54), Ruth Jennings (67th/21:17), and Laura Bishop (68th/21:18).

"Deanna ran a phenomenal race," Hulst said. "She took full control of the race before the mile and just kept the pressure on the whole way. Our top four in today's race ran phenomenal races to help us finish in the top five against a strong field. We took some really nice steps forward in our depth, too. We're still working on our top seven all putting it together at the same time, but this is the period of the season where we're a bit tired and we'll start to freshen up soon."

In two weeks, the Mustangs will be in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge on Oct. 22.