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MUSKEGON, MI - The Norse Cross Country Teams had a change of schedule and participated in the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by Muskegon Community College on Saturday. In a mix of two-year and four-year teams competing the women finished 14 out of 19 teams while the men finished 14 out of 16 teams.
The change of schedule provided some challenges for the Norse harriers as they were not prepared for the terrain they encountered but still met the challenge head on.
On the women’s side Grace VanWormer (SO, Garden, MI) continued to cut big chunks of time off of her season best. She came in almost a full minute faster than her time set at the conference meet hosted by Bay, pacing the Norse in this race with a time of 21:39.9. Payton Takkunen (FR, Perkins, MI) was able to register a personal best time for herself with a time of 21:56.6. Jovie Williams (FR, Houghton, MI) and Olivia Westcott (FR, Iron Mountain, MI) ran nearly identical paces, with Williams crossing the finish line at 22:12.2 and Westcott finishing with a time of 22:51.5. Kaiya Davis (FR, Bark River, MI) ended her day with a time of 23:55.7 while Ali Maloney (FR, Wallace, MI) had a time of 25:07.7. Joelle Jordan (SO, Bark River, MI) posted a time of 27:53.8.
Amber Koole (JR, Grand Rapids, MI) took the top spot as she narrowly beat out Ivy Forrest (FR, Davison, MI) from Mott Community College to win the race. Koole had a time of 18:47.7 while Forrest was right on her heels finishing the race with a time of 18:48.1. Grand Valley State placed four runners in the top ten and finished first as a team with 30 points. Muskegon Community College was the top two-year team with 148 points. Bay finished with 371 points.
The terrain was an issue for the men’s team as well as all of the Norse runners finished just a bit off of their personal bests. Noah Chouinard (Fr, Alma, MI) posted a time of 29:35.6 to lead Bay. Simon Jaklin (FR, Negaunee, MI) ended with a time of 29:53.8 while Cody Moore (FR, Chatham, MI) posted a time of 32:50.3. Cole Ozoga (FR, Skandia, MI) finished the race with a time of 35:05.9. Carter Korpi (FR, Skandia, MI) was close behind him with a time of 35:51.8 while Blayne LaCosse (FR, Negaunee, MI) finished with a time of 36:33.3.
The race was won by Southwestern Michigan College’s Luke Long (FR, Coldwater, MI) who finished the 8K race with a time of 25:38.1. Grand Valley State placed three runners in the top ten and posted the lowest team score of 42. Lansing Community College was in second place with 88 points. Bay finished the race with 429 points.
“We had great weather for racing along with some really strong competition,” said Norse Cross Country Coach Scott Carhoun. “The course was particularly challenging featuring several loops of long, steep hills. I am happy with our results considering we weren’t originally planning on attending this meet and had not trained for this terrain.”
The Norse will now gear up for the Region XII Championship on October 30 which will be hosted by St. Clair Community College.