Flames flourish in program-best runner-up finish at GPAC
ASHLAND, Neb. – The best stories aren't always found with the winning team.
On Saturday at Mahoney State Park, it was hard to find a better story than the College of Saint Mary women.
The Flames turned in the best finish in program history at the Great Plains Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships by a wide margin, placing second with 77 points. Prohibitive favorite Dordt University won the meet hosted by CSM with 18 points, while CSM edged Doane University (88) and Concordia University (100) for second.
"Very rarely can you set extremely high goals at the beginning of a year and achieve them every step of the way,'' CSM Coach Derek Fey said. "This group did things that no group in our program has ever done. We have never finished higher than sixth at the conference meet. We were projected to finish seventh in the preseason.
"To finish runner-up is something they dreamed about in the summer. Thought about it each run in the summer. We talked about it at our camp in Wyoming. To have it all come to fruition was extremely gratifying for them.''
CSM will wait until next week to find out if they will qualify as a team for the national championships in Columbia, Mo., on Nov. 22. They must be ranked in the top 30 nationally to qualify.
Individually, two Flames freshmen qualified for the national meet and also placed in the top 15, which earned them both all-conference honors. Kara Muller placed 11th in 24:01.3 over the 6,000-meter course, just ahead of Carly Henderson, who was 12th in 24:02.5. They were the second and third finishers among freshmen, trailing only champion Corinne Braun of Dordt (22:43.2).
"Our team was ready,'' Muller said. "Our team had a plan. That's what pushes you as an individual, the people that are behind you and have your back.''
Other important contributors to the Flames' team total were senior Brooke Wigdahl, who was 16th in 24:25.9; junior Corinne Mead, who was 19th in 24:35.4; and sophomore Mira Fosmer, who was 25th in 24:56.4.
The rest of the finishers for CSM were senior Autumn Simons, 39th in 25:39.6; sophomore Yenifer Juan Jesus, 41st in 25:50.0; freshman Becka Karnik, 52nd in 26:08.5; sophomore Natalie Briggs, 55th in 26:16.6; and freshman Josie Karnik, 69th in 27:31.2.
All of the Flames closed with a flourish, Fey said, a testament to their training.
"They were 70 points back from third place after the first 1,000 meters,'' he said. "They raced extremely smart. They trusted the process, trusted each other, trusted the program. It was the best race in our program's history, and I could not have asked more of them.''
