Mid-September is when the cross country season truly begins and this past weekend we were able to see glimpses of what might be in early December though it is still quite some time till then which only brings up the question of what team can peak at the right time? I highlighted some of the larger meets; let me know if there were others that need to be mentioned.

Dickinson Long / Short Invitational- Lockhaven’s Nick Hilton won the short 4k course in the time of 11:59 over his teammate, Tim Getz (12:00) and Shippensburg’s Bryan Beegle (12:10). Scoring only the top three, Lockhaven took the win with 11 points followed closely by Shippensburg with 14 points.In the long course, Lockhaven’s Alex Monroe was second in 25:56 for the 8.1k course. In team scoring, with only taking the top 3 three, Lockhaven was second with 17 points, , Millersville was fourth with 36 and Shippensburg was fifth with 52 points. Combined scores had Lockhaven with 28 points, Dickinson with 52 points and Shippensburg with 66 points.

Shippensburg’s Neely Spence easily took the win in the short course with a time of 13:37; she was followed by teammate Mary Dell with a 14:09 and Millersville Elicia Anderson in 14:10. Shippensburg won in team scoring only taking the top three runners with 9 points, Millersville was third with 41 points. In the long 6k course, Millersville’s Emily Francisco was fourth in 23:10. Shippensburg was second with 34 points and Lockhaven fourth with 38 points. In combined scoring, Shippensburg took first with 43 points, followed by Millersville in 3rd with 102 points and Lock Haven was fourth with 130 points.

Iowa Meet of Champions- American International’s Glarius Rop had yet another strong showing placing second in 24:58.71 over the 8k course to Cincinnati’s Eric Finan (24:48.45). Rop led his teams to 14^th place with 356.

Missouri Southern Stampede-Harding’s Daniel Kirwa turned an impressive race in the men’s 8k coming in second to Wayland Baptist’s Kennedy Kithuka with a time of 23:53.20. The next D2 finisher was East Central’s Daniel Kiptoo who finished fifth with a time of 24:20.50. In the team scoring, Harding finished third with 104 points, East Central was fourth with 160 points, Drury was fifth with 211 points, and Missouri Southern was tenth with 245 points.

Dallas Baptist’s Tabbitha Ashford was the first D2 finisher in the women’s 5k race finishing in ninth with a time of 17:44.93. In the team scoring, Midwestern State was second with 117 points, Missouri Southern State was third with 148 points, Dallas Baptist was fifth with 194 points and Pittsburg State was sixth with 203 points.

Mountaineer Open- Queen’s Senior Michael Crouch began his season taking first place on the 6400 meter course (there were no times recorded for the men’s race) . The next D2 finisher was Southern Indian’s Dustin Emerick in seventh he was followed by Queen’s Colin Guillard. Southern Indiana and Queen’s tied for second with a score 57 points.

In the women’s race, Southern Indiana’s Jackie Henderson was fifth in a time of 18:40.80 over the 5k course; she was followed closely by Queens’ Kimone Hewitt in the time of 18:43.95 for sixth. Southern Indiana came in second with a score of 57 and Queens was fourth with a score of 93 points.

Sundodger Invitational- In the invitational section, Western Oregon’s Chris Reed took third place with a time of 24:04.75 over the 8k course. Reed led his team to a fifth place finish with 142 points. Seattle University was eighth with 185 points. In the open section, St. Martin’s Kyle Van Santen took the win with a time of 24:47.48 over the 8k course. Simon Fraser, a new D2 school, finished fourth with 112 points, St. Martin’s was fifth with 186 points and Seattle Pacific was ninth with 225 points.

In the women’s invitational section the first D2 finisher was Seattle University’s Cara Talty was twenty-fifth over the 6k course with a time of 22:13.56. Seattle University was eighth with 186 points and Western Oregon was ninth with 235 points. In the open division, the Simon Fraser duo of Jessica Smith and Angela Shaw took the first two spot with 21:51.94 and 21:52.69 over the 6k course. Simon Frasier took the team title with 35 points, Seattle Pacific was eighth with 219 points and St. Martins was ninth with 260 points.