Addison qualifies for nationals
The Tabor College cross country teams closed out their seasons Saturday, competing at the KCAC Conference meet at Bethany College in Lindsborg.
Led by ninth-place finisher, junior Christina Addison (20:31), the Lady Bluejays finished third out of nine teams with 88 points.
With the top-five finishers not on the winning team qualifying, Addison is the lone Bluejay who will advance to the NAIA National Cross Country Meet Nov. 22 at Kenosha, Wisc.
Southwestern easily cruised to titles in both the men’s and women’s division with the Lady ’Builders outdistancing themselves from runner-up Kansas Wesleyan, 23-65.
In men’s action, the Bluejays finished sixth with 128 points while Southwestern beat KW for the first place, 27-80.
“The conference meet is what we work for all season,” Bluejay coach Karol Hunt said. “It’s a real positive for the program to have both teams compete so well when it really counts.”
Joining Addison as the other Bluejay to earn a medal was Liz Kleinsasser, who took 15th out of 57 finishers in 21:10.
Addison was named to the KCAC all-conference team, while Kleinsasser earned honorable mention honors.
Jera Teselle, Kelli Kopper, and Carrie Schroeder finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively for Tabor.
Teselle was 22nd (21:55), Kopper 24th (22:07), and Schroeder took 29th in 22:22.
Tessa Siebert was 41st (23:45), Julia Carlton 42nd (23:51), and Elissa Richert came in 48th at 24:45.
“The women had a strong team showing and finishing third was our best-case scenario,” Hunt said. “We could’ve placed anywhere from third to sixth since Bethel, Friends, and Sterling each had outperformed us as a team at previous meets this season.
“We were focused in our racing and knew what we had to do to capture that third place.”
Highlighting the men’s 8k race was Zac Remboldt’s 19th-place finish.
Competing in his final race, the senior saved his best for last, running a personal record time of 26:53 — one of four personal bests set by the men.
Zach Gould was 21st (26:59) and Dan Sigley rounded out the top-25 with a 25th-place time of 27:33.
Justin Ball and Ric Johnson were 31st and 39th respectively in 28:22 and 29:06.
Gould, Sigley, and Ball also set personal bests while Johnson turned in his second straight race under the 30-minute mark.
“I am really proud of how the guys performed today,” Hunt said. “I could not ask any more of them.”