ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Drake University women's cross country team finished fourth in a five-team field with junior Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) being the second collegiate runner to cross the finish line of the women's 6-kilometer race at Friday's Oz Memorial.
The men's cross country team took top honors thanks to Brogan Austin's (Boone, Iowa) first-place finish in the 6-kilometer race to help the Bulldogs defeat host Minnesota, UNI and South Dakota State.
Austin returned to the course for the first time since 2012 and laid down a blistering 5-minute mile pace to finish in 18:49.4, more than 15 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.
“Brogan hasn't raced cross country in more than a year, so it was good to get him back out on the course,” said Drake head coach Dan Hostager. “He'll focus on training for a few more weeks before we race him again.”
Drake's other four scorers on the men's side all finished in the top 20 with Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) coming in seventh in 19:16.5 and Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) just behind him in ninth at 19:24.2.
“It was good getting back into a race situation and our guys knocked a big chunk of time off their times at this meet last year,” Hostager added.
The men's scoring was completed by veterans Conor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) and Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) who came in 11th and 17th overall. As a result of those efforts, the Bulldogs' 44 team points bested homestanding Minnesota by five points and UNI and SDSU by 16 points.
The women's squad was without a few of its regular scorers but still had all five of its scorers finish in the top 40 to take fourth-place in the team standings. UNI won the women's competition with 39 points. Drake's Huston finished third overall but she was the second collegiate runner on the 6-kilometer course in 22:37, less than 11 seconds off the winning pace of 22:26.2 set by Minnesota's Ashlie Decker.
“She ran very confident and held back early which allowed her to finish strong,” Hostager said of Huston's race.
Backing up Huston's strong showing was Taylor Scholl (Prior Lake, Minn.) in 20th at 23:56.6 and Melissa Parks (Norfolk, Neb.) in 35th at 24:28.1.
“We took a big step as a team with them really pushing themselves this week and making considerable improvements from the first week,” Hostager said of the women's team.
Freshman Bailee Cofer (Overland Park, Kan.) and sophomore Mariah Kauder (Cascade, Iowa) finished 37th and 38th, respectively to complete Drake's scoring.
Both teams will have a week off from competition as they continue their early season training in preparation for the next competition on Sept. 19 at the Grand View Invite.
Oz Memorial – Arden Hills, Minn.
Men's Team Results
1. Drake, 44
2. Minnesota, 49
3. Northern Iowa, 60
4. South Dakota State, 60
Drake Men's Individual Results
6 kilometers – 40 runners
1. Brogan Austin, 18:49.4
7. Rob McCann, 19:16.5
9. Reed Fischer, 19:24.2
11. Conor Wells, 19:32.8
17. Doug Brady, 19:53.9
23. Chris Kaminski, 20:10.1
28. Ryan Tunink, 20:35.6
33. James Saxton, 20:51.7
34. Ryan Ross, 20:54.8
35. Isaiah Vlasek, 20:57.2
37. Ali Jandal, 21:04.06
39. George Webb, 21:34.5
40. Calvin Quarterman, 21:35.4
Women's Team Results
1. Northern Iowa, 39
2. Minnesota, 43
3. South Dakota State, 62
4. Drake, 96
5. Minnesota State, 129
Drake Women's Individual Results
6 kilometers – 69 runners
3. Emma Huston, 22:37.1
20. Taylor Scholl, 23:56.6
35. Melissa Parks, 24:28.1
37. Bailee Cofer, 24:31.9
38. Mariah Kauder, 24:35.1
41. Cassie Aerts, 24:43.5
50. Katie Berger, 25:15.1
55. Elana Breitenbucher, 25:37.2
57. Angela Ufheil, 25:48.0
63. Laura Gann, 26:27.6
66. Shelby Varney, 27:31.2
