Women are runner-up, men third at conference championships

ANKENY, Iowa -- The Mount Mercy women were runner-up and the Mustang men finished third at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday at the DMACC Cross Country Course. Mount Mercy's Deanna Newhouse, J'Lyn Knutson, Sergio Lizarraga, and Ryan Clancy earned first-team all-conference honors and will compete at the NAIA national championships later this month.

"I'm so proud of this team," said Head Coach Tad Hulst. "The way they support each other and attack each day. They run to inspire each other, and today they inspired me and a lot of others with their resiliency.

"This team is special. We talk about being a family," Hulst continued. "This group showed what that really means this week. They are incredibly resilient and showed their grit. They ran with purpose and ran every step for their family and brought home big results."

Lizarraga continued his late-season surge, crossing the finish line in sixth place with a time of 26:17.8 in the men's 8K. Clancy wasn't far behind, finishing ninth in 26:21.5. Grand View's Sam Mickelson won the race in 25:37.8. Also with strong races for the Mustangs were Brady Cortez (16th/26:51.9), Oscar Lopez (23rd/27:13.5), Ryan Mitchell (44th/28:06.5), Quinn Swift (63rd/28:53.8), and Felix Grave (65th/29:04.7).

"The men showed true toughness," said Hulst. "Sergio ran big to punch his ticket to nationals and be the top freshman in the conference. Ryan Clancy has made huge gains in confidence this year and earned a trip to Tallahassee. Brady, Oscar, and Ryan Mitchell ran gutsy races to help bring home some team hardware."

Having four of the top five individual finishers helped Grand View win their second team title in a row. Benedictine was runner-up (83), followed by Mount Mercy (96), Evangel (155), William Penn (187), Park (187), Baker (195), MidAmerica Nazarene (198), Central Methodist (199), Clarke (244), Graceland (262), Missouri Valley (321), and Peru State (348). 

Newhouse placed third in the women's 5K race with a time of 19:04.4 while Knutson finished fifth in 19:19.4. Morgan Lawson of Grand View was the individual champion in 18:30.6. Mount Mercy's top seven also included Jessa Day (34th/20:56.1), Ruth Jennings (36th/20:59.7), Abby Rinderknecht (44th/21:19.5), Laura Bishop (46th/21:24.3), and Ruth Cobieya (60th/22:28.7).

"Deanna and J'Lyn led the way for the women with a big 1-2 punch that we knew would be big for us," Hulst said. "Jessa, Ruth Jennings, and Abby Rinderknecht worked together perfectly to grind through tough conditions and seal the runner-up team finish."

Benedictine cruised to their third straight team title with 29 points. Mount Mercy was next with 106 points. The remainder of the field went MidAmerica Nazarene (113), Grand View (120), Central Methodist (137), Baker (142), Evangel (151), Graceland (159), Clarke (218), William Penn (290), Peru State (336), Missouri Valley (349), and Park (352).

The NAIA Cross Country Championships are in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday, Nov. 18.