Southwestern's men's and women's cross country teams competed Saturday morning, Sept. 30, 2017, in the Dan Huston Invite, on the campus of Wartburg College in Waverly.
Conditions were almost perfect compared to the week prior in St. Paul, MN. The athletes enjoyed cool temperatures in the 60s with a light breeze. Along with the ideal weather conditions, the Spartans were up against four ranked NCAA DIII teams on the multiple loop course. This provided for some fast times for all of the athletes competing in the race.
In a field of more than 200 athletes, freshman-standout Shane Breheny led the way for the Spartan men with a time of 27:39, good enough for 61st place. His performance puts him at #15 on the all-time individual performance list.
Following Breheny, as the #2 runner for the Spartans was Jalen Two-Leggins, sophomore, in a time of 28:22. Close behind him were the pair of Kevin Dietrich, sophomore, and Nathan Bradley, freshman, in 28:28 and 28:37 respectively. Rounding out the scoring five for the Spartans was Phoenix Shadden, freshman, with a time of 29:11.
The men finished with an average team time of 28:27 over the 8-kilometer course. They had a team score of 283 points, just 11 points shy of the #17-ranked JUCO and conference foe Hawkeye CC.
The Spartan women's team was once again led by Heather Jessen, freshman, who covered the women's 6k course in a time of 25:58, good enough for 68th place. She was followed closely by fellow teammate Renna Stopak, freshman, in a time of 26:11. Jessica Beatty, sophomore; Halie Dean, freshman; and BreAnn Rhodes, freshman, filled the other three scoring positions, each taking significant time off of their prior personal bests from this season.
"When you have kids as motivated as mine and excellent weather conditions like we had, good things are going to happen," said Spartan Head Coach Trey Bruton. "I was really pleased with all of our kids.
Bruton said each of the Spartan student-athletes took from 1:30–4:00 off of their season best times.
"We made some really good strides this week and showed what potential both our men's and women's teams have," stated Bruton.
Bruton said Hawkeye had to sit a few guys due to injury, but considers them a legitimate top #20 team.
"I think we gave Hawkeye a little scare," Bruton said proudly. "We weren't at full strength either, so once both teams are healthy, I'm excited to see how things shake out; I think we have a good chance."
The Spartan men's and women's teams are off this week before jumping back into action on Friday, October 13, 2017, at the Trent Smith Invitational, on the campus of NIACC in Mason City.