The men and women’s cross country teams both ran at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Championships on Saturday at the Field of Dreams. This is the second time Houghton has hosted the NCCAA national championship.
Competing on their home course, the women earned a tenth place finish among 21 teams competing in the Division 1 event, while the men finished fifteenth out of 18 division one teams.
The lead runner for the Houghton women was junior, Joanna Friesen, who finished twenty-eighth overall in 19:27 for the 5K course. A total of 142 athletes competed in this race.
“For the women, this was their best race of the season. Six of the seven girls had season bests,” said Head Coach Patrick Hager. “Our team really embraced competing at home for the national championships.”
On the men’s team, Cory McCarty ‘17, ran the top time for the Highlanders, finishing the 8K in 27:29.6, which earned him sixty fifth place out of 135 competitors. Matthew Gostomski ‘16 was not far behind as he finished with a time of 27:34.7 earning himself seventieth place. 135 athletes competed in the men’s race.
“Starting out last year’s season, we had four guys on the team, and only one of them competed at nationals. This year we’ve progressed and competed with 11 guys on the team,” said men’s captain Aaron Eisenhardt ‘17. “As a men’s team we were able to qualify for nationals and our team unity is much deeper this year. I’m looking forward to next year. Since we are only losing two seniors the team will be very similar to this year’s.”
Women’s captain Friesen said, “Running the home course is an advantage, in spite of Houghton November weather. I ran on the course; I know its terrain and characteristics. I’ve run the course backwards and forwards countless times, that is a distinct advantage over the competition.”
Along with Houghton, 47 teams traveled from states all across the country to compete in the national event including teams from Washington, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Florida, Kansas, etc.
Teams were hosted on the course as well as around campus. 10 schools were housed both in the flats or dorms and several teams ate in the dining hall.
On Friday evening all cross country athletes were invited to a celebratory banquet in the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex. “It was a good time for everyone to be together in a formal setting, with some awards given out. It really set the tone for the meet and helped get people excited,” said Hager.
With such a large event being hosted on campus, several departments were highly involved in the planning. All athletic administration was involved as well as Sodexo for catering services, Becca Crouch for housing, Ray Parlett for security, and the grounds crew for preparing the course. In the months leading up to the competition, the departments would meet to work on planning every two weeks.
“It’s very special to host such a large meet and get to see so many other runners on campus in the days leading up to the meet. It is a momentous way to finish the season,” said Friesen. “The season has been long and full of hard work and effort – it’s hard to believe that it’s all over.”
The Cedarville University men and women won the NCCAA Championship race for division one and the Maranatha Baptist University men and Moody Bible Institute women won division two.
