Storm Runners Improve Personal Results at BlueGold Invitational
Eau Claire, Wis - On Friday, October 2, the Crown College men and women runners set nine personal records at the BlueGold Invitational Cross Country Meet hosted by UW-Eau Claire. The meet was held in cool, rainy conditions and featured twenty college teams from the Upper Midwest.
As she has all season long; Summer Pfaff led the way for the Storm women finishing the 6K course in a personal best time of 26:34. The next three women also set personal best including Hannah Dean (27:52), Cherie Hecimovich (28:37), and Kelsey Morrow (29:12). Rounding out the scoring was Natalie Merboth (29:59), Erika Stampf (30:57),Megan Kunde (32:23), Becca McBride (35:49), and Kristen Kalvig (35:58).
“This is the first time that we have had our top five women under 30 minutes,” said coach Rick Peterson. “Cherie (Hecimovich) and Kelsey (Morrow) had a huge day improving over 2 minutes. Hannah (Dean) ran the strongest race of her career and Summer (Pfaff) is becoming one of the top runners in our conference.”
The Crown men runners were not to be outdone with every runner setting a personal or season best time. First finisher for the Crown men was Mike Palmer who improved his personal best time by 1:30 by completing the 8K course in 28:27. Other Storm finishers were Vince Elmhorst (30:29), Simon Kulzer (31:41), Kyle Pitts (33:51) and Adam Fuerst (36:06).
“Cooler weather, a more friendly course, and lots of hard work resulted in a big day for our runners” said Peterson. “We practice at 5:45 am and the discipline to get out of bed to run is resulting in some top times. As a team; they are learning to trust God for strength to train and race hard.”
The Storm men and women runners next compete on Saturday, October 17 at the Jim Drew Invitational in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
