Pride Cross Country opens up with trip to Waverly for John Kurtt Invitational

Pride Cross Country opens up with trip to Waverly for John Kurtt Invitational
Results
September 2, 2023

WAVERLY, Iowa – Kicking off their 2023 season, the Clarke University Pride men's and women's cross-country team finished in third and second place at the John Kurtt Invite.

In the women's 5,000-meter, the Pride were paced by senior Rory Bickler, who finished in sixth place (19:47.7) out of a field of 23 runners. Just under a minute later (20:29.0), sophomore Jaycie Franco was the second Pride runner across, earning an 11th-place finish. Junior, Lydia Radeke ran a time of 22:59.3 to finish in 19th place.

In the men's 5,000-meter, the Pride were led by senior Emmett Schwartzhoff, who finished in 24th place (16:18.2) out of a field of 67 runners. Under thirty seconds later, freshman Chesney Capron finished in 33rd place by running a time of 16:44.2. Bryce Kondos and Kole Haverly crossed the finish line in 41st and 45th place with times of 16:59.7 and 17:23.2.

Making their debut and finishing atop the Clarke freshman women was Megan Hageman who finished in 15th place with a time of 21:07.9. The remainder of the freshmen finished as follows, Samantha Callahan ran a 22:46.1, Keona Coleman ran under 25 minutes with a 24:39.8, Jaide Bittinger finished in 25:18.8, and Lena Wilson rounded out the times at 26:43.4.

The rest of the Clarke men finished as follows, Eric Chatham and Drew Pate were tenths of a second apart crossing the finish line in 17:29.2 and 17:29.7. Freshman Charlie Juntunen finished under 18 minutes with a time of 17:58.1. Junior Benjamin Vasquez and freshman Cord Nietert finished back-to-back with times of 18:49.8 and 18:54.3.

Five total members of the Pride ended their Saturday with new 5K personal best times as Schwartzhoff, Haverly, Pate, and Chatham all hit new PRs for the men and Franco's 22:59.3 was her best 5K time in her cross country career.

Women's Team Results

  1. Wartburg College
  2. Clarke University

Men's Team Results

  1. North Central College (Ill.)
  2. Wartburg College
  3. Clarke University
  4. Wartburg Alumni
  5. Iowa Track and Field Club

Final Results from today's race can be found here.

Up next for the Pride is a trip to Bettendorf for the Fighting Bee Invitational on Saturday, September 9th starting at 10:30 AM CST.