AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams left the 2020 Sun Conference Championships with some substantial hardware, as well as some travel plans to the Hawkeye State come April. Both AMU teams finished as the conference runner-ups, with four Gyrenes earning all-conference accolades and two clinching a berth into this spring's NAIA Cross Country National Championships.
Ave Maria's men were led by freshman Joseph Perreault, who finished fourth in the conference with a time of 27:17.1. Perreault's time was not only good for First Team All-Sun Conference honors, it earned him the league's Freshman of the Year award. Perreault also became just the second male runner in AMU history to qualify for the NAIA National Championships.
Adam Paga also left North Park with hardware, finishing in 14th place to earn a Second Team All-Sun Conference accolade. The freshman completed the course in 28:20.6 to help power AMU's second place finish. The Gyrenes' team score was rounded out by DJ Mason (28:37.1), Erik Minter (29:46.3), and Jonathan Kohr (29:58.6), all of whom finished the Ave Maria home course in under 30 minutes.
On the women's side, Mary Goetz continued to add to her Ave Maria legacy. The junior made it three consecutive trips to the NAIA National Championships and three consecutive First Team All-Conference honors with a third place finish. Goetz, who also earned the conference's Champion of Character Award, was one of five runners to clear the 20-minute mark at 19:22.0.
In her first season on campus, Anna Morris earned Second Team All-Conference honors, finishing second among freshmen by crossing the finish line in 20:45.5, good for 12th place overall. AMU's first ever runner-up finish was completed by the times of Marianna Orth (21:55.7), Peyton Brugger (21:59.4), and Bernadette Glasgow (22:25.5).
Southeastern swept the team awards, running away with both the men's and women's championships. SEU head coach Paul Kurtz was honored as the conference coach of the year for both genders. SEU's Julia Rohm claimed the women's individual title, but USCB's Tewodros Eckstein upset favorited John Perez-Dunn of Southeastern to win the men's title and avoid a full sweep from the Fire.
Following their performances on Saturday morning, Perreault and Goetz will compete in the upcoming NAIA Cross Country National Championships, held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 9, 2021. The championship was delayed until the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the spot for both the freshman Perreault and the junior Goetz is secure.
In preparation for the national championship event, the Gyrenes will compete one more time during the fall season. Ave Maria will preview the championship course at the Seminole Valley Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids by competing in Mount Mercy University's Mustang Fall Cross Country Invitational on November 21. The event will be the final one of the fall for the Gyrenes. The women's race is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. central, with the men's race following at 11:15.
