Bluejay harriers wrap up season at regional meet
Heidi Schmidt earns all-region honors as teams place seventh
Tabor College cross country teams wrapped up the seasons Saturday at the Region IV meet at McPherson's Rolling Acres Golf Course.
Both teams placed seventh with the women competing against 15 schools and the men against 13.
The women had 163 points with Park University beating runner-up Southwestern, 32-45.
The men finished with 173 points with Southwestern winning the division easily.
Leading the way for the Lady Bluejays was sophomore Heidi Schmidt, who became the first Tabor runner to be named All-Regional with an 11th place time of 20:38.
"Heidi ran a competitive race and is the first Tabor runner to be named All-Regional," Bluejay coach Karol Hunt said. "She ran a quicker time today on a more difficult course than she did last week at the conference meet."
Amber Wiens finished second for the Bluejays with a 32nd place time of 21:41.
"That was positive for Amber to finish as our second runner," said Hunt. "She has battled a hip injury most of the season and was frustrated with not performing up to her expectations."
Bridgette Stevens (23:20), Tiffany Stevens (23:21), Shelby Miller (23:22), and Rebekah Lockhart (23:31) came in 56th, 57th, 58th, and 60th, respectively, all finishing within 11 seconds of each other.
Ashley Schmidt finished 63rd in 23:43.
In men's action, Jeff Anenson bounced back from a rough conference meet to finish with a 29:58 time for 34th.
Kyle Larson continued his consistency, taking second for Tabor in 30:16 for 38th.
Closing out a respectable career was Matt Lynam, who finished 44th out of 73 in 30:36.
"Matt ran a strong race taking 2:27 off the time he ran on the course in September," said Hunt. "He has been a major contributor to Tabor cross country the last four seasons."
Hot on Lynam's heels was Kevin Larson, coming in a place and 1/100 of a second behind.
Zac Remboldt and Richard Galli were 53rd (31:32), and 56th (31:57), respectively.
"Zac and Richard ran 1:30 and 1:00, respectively, faster on this course today than earlier in the season," Hunt said. "Both have learned quite a bit about running on this level this season and have learned a lot about the mental toughness it takes to run consistently over a 12-week season."
Will Higerd finished 60th in 32:31.
"Will's final three races of the season have been between 32:03 and 32:47," said Hunt. "He's beginning to develop a consistency in his running and that speaks well for how hard he works.
"Matt is the only runner we lose from these two teams. We have a strong base for the future."
