Margaret BauerThe Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams finished second and first respectively at Saturday’s Division III Challenge in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The women’s squad led a five-team field with 48 points while the men’s team’s total of 64 points was good for second place in a six-team field. The women’s team is currently ranked 20th and the men’s team 21st.
On the women’s side, senior Maggie Grabow finished first in the 5K run for the Bears and second overall with a time of 18:40.43. Freshman Lisa Sudmeier owned the second fastest time for the Bears and 12th overall at 19:32.37. Behind Sudmeier were a trio of fellow Bears with junior Andrea Moreland, sophomore Elizabeth Herndon, and junior Ginny Griffin coming in 13th, 14th, and 15th overall, respectively. The women’s team finished 12 points ahead of second-place University of Chicago. Grabow credited the team’s strong performance to their coach’s preparation as well as strong team chemistry, but added that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We’ve been together about a month now, and we’re starting to really mesh as a team, so going into the race, I was really excited. Coach Stiles has been preparing us well-giving us workouts that will be beneficial in the long run,” Grabow said. “We all went into the race a little fatigued, but I thought all in all, we had some great performances. We have a ways to go, but at least this gives us a benchmark, something to improve upon.”
While the men’s team did not finish first overall, the squad did have several outstanding individual performances. Junior Brennan Bonner came in first overall in the 8K event while finishing virtually neck-and-neck with the event’s runner-up, classmate Greg Reindl. Bonner finished in a time of 26:09.71 while Reindl clocked in at 26:09.95. Senior Nate Quest was the next fastest Bear with a time of 27:24.35-good for 18th place overall. The men’s team finished 18 points behind first-place University of Chicago. According to Grabow, these individual performances showed the team’s potential and provided a thrilling race.
“The guys’ team is looking promising. Greg Reindl and Brennan Bonner had great performances-blazing across the finish line in first together,” Grabow said. ” And Senior Nate Quest following behind to finish 3rd on the team-it was an exciting race to watch.”
The Bears will look to build upon the success of the Division III Challenge in two split-squad events on Saturday, September 25. While most of the team will head to Rolla, Missouri, for the Missouri-Rolla Invitational, the top seven runners from the men’s and women’s squad will instead compete in the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they can expect to face some of their toughest competition.
“[The Invitational] will be a good indicator of the competition we will be meeting later in the season (at regionals and nationals). It is important for us to run with the girls who will be our main competition,” Grabow said. “I’m excited. It is supposed to be a really fun and challenging race.”