Reyes leads Jimmies in S.D.

With one final tune-up before the NAIA A.I.I. Conference Qualifying Meet, the Jamestown College cross country team stacked itself up with some stiff competition.

On Saturday, the Jimmie women finished sixth and the men placed 10th at the Mount Marty Invitational in Yankton, S.D. The meet also worked as the Dakota Athletic Conference meet as well, so on top of placing two runners in the top 12, the JC women also had four runners named all-conference.

The men’s team had two runners named all-conference, and Jamestown High School graduate Spencer Komoni nearly made it three.

JJ Koerber led the Jimmie men with a 32nd-place finish to earn all-conference honors and Nathan Christensen finished 65th to earn a spot on the all-conference team.

“JJ did a phenomenal job,” said JC men’s coach Ed Crawford. “It was a lifetime best by 25 seconds for him.”

Koerber finished the course in 27:11.00 and Christensen followed with a time of 28:03.68. Komoni missed out on all-conference honors by a few seconds, finishing 74th with a time of 28:19.66.

The Jimmie men went on to finish 10th as a team, but Crawford said he was still pleased with how the team competed.

“It was good competition and I thought everyone ran pretty well,” he said. “We had five of our top six runners run lifetime bests.”

The finish was also admirable considering David Londe, one of JC’s top runners, missed the meet because he was feeling “dizzy and light-headed” prior to competition.

“We need Dave, but everybody stepped up,” Crawford said. “We have enough depth that one of our top four or five runners could miss a day and other runners will step up.”

Aleona Reyes continued her tear on Saturday for the Jimmie women’s team as she finished 3rd overall with a time of 18:22.26. Reyes, a sophomore, had the best finish of anyone in the DAC. Teammate Madey Hornung was the second-best DAC finisher after she placed 12th with a time of 19:02.21.

“Aleona Reyes and Madey Hornung just ran exceptional races (Saturday),” said JC women’s coach Jim Clark. “They really showed up against outstanding competition. I think they both ran the best cross country races of their careers (on Saturday).”

Andrea Markwart and Cambrya Belter were also named all-conference as they helped lead the Jimmies to a sixth-place team finish.

“I did not tell our team about the DAC Meet, so they were a little surprised to get the team and individual awards after the meet ended,” Clark said. “We were focusing on competing as best we could against some of the best competition we have faced this season and finishing sixth in a field of 12 teams was a good effort for our team.”

The Jimmies will travel to the California for the NAIA A.I.I. Conference Qualifying Meet, which is set for Nov. 5 in San Marcos, Calif.

Mount Marty Invite

Men

Team scores: 1, Concordia 51; 2, Morningside College 67; 3, Dordt College 71; 4, Dakota State 94; 5, Mount Marty 114; 6, Hastings College 184; 7, Dickinson State 96; 8, Minot State 211; 9, Northwestern College 227; 10, Jamestown College 256; 11, Midland Lutheran 333; 12, Dakota Wesleyan 338; 13, Briar Cliff 348.

Individual results (top 10 and JC results)

1, Benjamin Sievert, Concordia, 25.40; 2, Andy Coy, Dakota State, 25.41; 3, Garret Ehlers 25:47.48; 4, Matt Fideler, Dakota State, 25:54.26; 5, Monte Larsen, Morningside College, 26:00.47; 6, Ryan Tholen, Dordt, 26:03.96; 7, Leo Banales, Mount Marty, 26:06.57; 8, Adam Prahlow, Concordia, 26:09.62; 9, Hayden Hohnholt, Concordia, 26:15.61; 10, Jay Welp, Moningside College, 26:21.26.

JC results: 32, Joseph Koerber, 27:11.00; 65, Nathan Christensen, 28:03.68; 74, Spencer Komoni, 28:19.66; 76, Clinton Senn, 28:23.71; 78, Kendall Wiltzen, 28:25.28; 90, Justin Slusser, 28:45.70; 125, Kyle Heim, 30:33.37; 133, Bob Heinzen, 32:05.38; 139, Joe Olson, 33:28.18; 144, Caleb Belter, 34:00.08.

Women

Team scores: 1, Morningside College 54; 2, Concordia 59; 3, Dordt College 87; 4, Northwestern 99; 5, Minot State 150; 6, Jamestown College 153; 7, Dickinson State 190; 8, Hastings College 218; 9, Mount Marty College 249; 10, Midland Lutheran 264; 11, Dakota State 304; 12, Briar Cliff 324.

Individual results (top 10 and JC results)

1, Courtney Schall, UC, 17:37.48; 2, Sarah Kortze, Concordia, 18:21.72; 3, Aleona Reyes, JC, 18:22.26; 4, Jenna Schwalenberg, CU, 18:22.91; 5, Jessica Weborg, Morningside, 18:35.98; 6, Lydia Ford, Morningside, 18:45.65; 7, Renee Buikema, Dordt, 18:48.58; 8, Teresa Kerkvliet, Northwestern, 18:52.63; 9, Marhtha Meineke, CU, 18:53.70; 10, Michelle Steiger, Dordt, 18:54.73.

Other JC results: 12, Madey Hornung, 19:02.21; 51, Andrea Markwart, 20:23.35; 59, Cambrya Belter, 20:39.73; 67, Mallory Souder, 20:51; 72, Alyssa Sanders, 21:00; 89, Ashley Mueller, 21:36; 113, Miranda Charley, 22:49; 132, Kaia Bickford, 25:01.

Tags: cross country, college sports, jimmies, sports