LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Indiana Wesleyan University women’s cross country team placed 12th of 38 teams on Saturday at the Greater Louisville Classic in Kentucky.
Indiana Wesleyan raced in the Blue Division which featured programs from all three levels of the NCAA in addition to other NAIA programs. The 11 teams to place ahead of Indiana Wesleyan were either NCAA Division I schools, ranked NCAA Division II schools, and one ranked NAIA school.
Missouri won the Blue Division race with 130 points and Belmont (Tenn.) was runner-up at 179 points. NAIA No. 12-ranked Saint Francis (Ill.) was 10th place with 358 points and No. 17-ranked Indiana Wesleyan finished 12th in the standings with 396 points.
“The 11 teams that were ahead of us today were NCAA DI schools, ranked NCAA DII schools, and a team ranked ahead of us in the NAIA rankings,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach John Foss. “It was a very good day for the Wildcats.”
Taylor Hite (SR/Ligonier, Ind.) led Indiana Wesleyan with a time of 18:49. She finished 42nd overall out of 352 runners. Brooke Horswell (JR/Charleston, W.Va.) was 70th at 19:05 and Isabel Wharton (JR/Laurel, Del.) crossed the line in 78th at 19:09. Sarah McBeath (SO/LeHigh Acres, Fla.) was 93rd in 19:16, Kinsey McBeath (FR/Mason, Ohio) finished 135th in 19:33, and Katherine Arch (JR/Iowa City, Iowa) was 160th at 19:44. Julie Kamp (JR/Frankfort, Ill.) placed 257th in a time of 20:41.
“Taylor had a great race today,” said Foss. “She is the first girl to finish under 19 minutes for us this year. The 45 seconds gap between one through six is just awesome. I am very happy and everyone is pumped. We do a lot of mileage so to have these fast of times this early in the year is a good indication that we are on the right track.”
The Wildcats also raced their second team in the Silver Division and finished fourth of 46 teams. Londyn Wise (FR/Fort Wayne, Ind.) placed 37th in the race in a time of 19:40 and Laura Nordquist (JR/Kalamazoo, Mich.) took 49th place in 19:53. Megan Sanchez (SO/Hudsonville, Mich.) crossed the line in 52nd place in a time of 19:54, Caitlyn Chastain (FR/Fort Wayne, Ind.) was 60th in 20:01, and Kailynne Tangeman (SR/Marysville, Ohio) was 67th in 20:03.
“I am real proud of all of them,” said Foss. “There were about 400 runners in each race. We were not intimidated today as we ran smart and we ran strong.”
Indiana Wesleyan will split its squad next week between the Kansas Pre-National Meet and the Bethel Invitational. The Kansas Pre-National Meet will be on Saturday, October 11 and will be held in Lawrence, Kansas where the NAIA National Championship will be held later in the season. The rest of the team competes on Friday, October 10 in Mishawaka, Indiana.
