Cross Country | 11/6/2021 8:32:00 PM
LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University cross country programs made history on Saturday morning, placing five runners on the All-Sun Conference teams, thanks to top-14 finishes in The Sun Conference Championships, which were run Saturday at Holloway Park in Lakeland. The Gyrenes will also send three runners to the NAIA National Championships, which ties a school record.
The women's race saw two Gyrenes in the top four, sending both to the national championship event later this month. Theresa Long ran a 19:19.32 5k time, and finished as the conference runner-up to earn her place at nationals. Long was also named the SUN Newcomer of the Year. Mary Goetz followed in fourth place, and earned her fourth trip to nationals. Both runners were named first team All-Sun Conference for their efforts.
Third among Gyrenes was freshman Lily Burke, who finished 13th to earn second team All-Sun Conference recognition. Ave Maria's team score was rounded out by two more freshmen, as Abigail Rall (21:38.94) and Lillian Broduer (22:38.16) both finished in the top half of the field in their final race of the 2021 season.
SCAD Savannah won the team championship by seven points over defending champion Southeastern, led by the individual title from sophomore Talia Sullivan, who completed the course at 19:14.04. SCAD alternated with the Gyrenes in the top five, with Bees claiming the first, third, and fifth positions. Southeastern took second, with their top four runners placing in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth spots.
For the second year in a row, Joseph Perreault will compete on the national stage, as the sophomore earned first team All-Sun Conference honors and a berth at nationals by finishing second in the conference, running the 8k course in 27:12.20. Joining Perreault on the All-Sun Conference teams is freshman Jorge Jimenez, a second team selection after his 27:43.91 time earned him a top ten spot in the conference.
Ave Maria also had two more runners in the top 20, both of which ran the Holloway Park course in under 29 minutes. Adam Paga placed 15th with a time of 28:03.26, while Thomas Walter placed 19th at 28:43.52. The Gyrene team score was concluded by a top 30 time from Jonathan Kohr, who crossed the finish line at 29:02.84.
The Gyrenes were comfortably in third place in the men's event, which also came down to the wire between SCAD and Southeastern. The Bees swept the day with a six-point win over Southeastern, despite the Fire's John Perez-Dunn winning the individual conference championship. SCAD's conference title came courtesy of placing all five of their scorers in the top 12.
Long, Goetz, and Perreault will head to Vancouver, Washington in less than two weeks for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. The event will be held on Friday, November 19 at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. pacific time, with the women's race following at 11:30 a.m.
