Multiple runners on both sides earned personal-best times in their final meet of the season.
This past Saturday, Nov. 4, the Ashland University men’s and women’s cross country teams concluded their season at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship Meet, which was held at the Angel Mounds Cross Country Course in Evansville, Ind.
It was a meet to remember for the women as all five scorers secured PR’s in the 6K race. Leading the way was fifth-year Cassandra Ponzi who placed 91st with a time of 22:31.27, followed by senior McKenna Woodruff coming in 124th place at a 23:15..88, freshman Lauren Bero in 131st with a time of 23:21.71, junior Emilie Lemson placing 141st with a 23:31.76, and sophomore Brenna Heinzerling finishing in 147th with a time of 23:37.92.
The women’s team finished in 21st place with 618 points. Grand Valley State emerged victorious with 28 points, followed by conference rival Cedarville finishing in 2nd with 87 points and Lewis securing the bronze with 92 points.
On the men’s side, even though the race distance increased from an 8K to a 10K, there were several personal best times earned. Sophomore Michael Snopik led the way placing 75th with a time of 32:43.67, fellow sophomore Braeden Geist came in 99th at a 33:15.78, and fifth-year Joel Pospisil finishing in 156th place with a time of 34:23.96.
Head Coach Jacob Sussman discussed how he trained the men’s runners for such a long distance like a 10K.
“Actually, we trained for the 10K all year. So, we’re always prepping for that. We put a big emphasis on conference, but in reality, regionals is last on our list, so we’re training for that all year long,” Sussman said.
The men finished 22nd as a team with 571 points. Grand Valley State also came out on top on the men’s side, winning the team title with 48 points. Lewis finished as runners-up with 104 team points, followed by Saginaw Valley State coming in at 3rd with 112 points.
Sussman was pleased about the teams’ performances at the meet.
“It was really good, both teams were 9-10 places ahead of where they were last year overall, and the team averages were pretty far down there, which was a big improvement, especially for a young team,” he said.
With the season now coming to a close, he also talked about how his team is going to approach the offseason.
“So, for the distance kids, they actually don’t get much of an offseason. Our first indoor track meet is in three weeks and they all run in it. So, they get a couple days off, but they hit the grindstone pretty fast,” he said.
