This weekend, the men’s and women’s cross country teams headed south to Atlanta, Georgia, for the UAA Championships. Both teams had a successful meet, with the women finishing second and the men placing sixth. The women collected 75 points, second to Wash U’s 33 points. On the men’s side, Carnegie Mellon and Wash U shared the title with 58 points each, while the Maroons took sixth in the 8K with 137 points.
Individually, the Chicago women did very well, with four runners placing in the top 20. In the 6K race, third-year Khia Kurtenbach came in second out of 78 runners with a blazing time of 21:47.29, garnering first team All-UAA honors. This is the second year in a row she has finished second at UAAs. She finished eight seconds faster than the third-place runner.
Third-year Kelsey Dunn, fourth-year Madeleine Horvath, and third-year Cassidy McPherson finished 12th, 17th, and 19th, with times of 22:23.74, 22:39.32, and 22:43.52, respectively. First-years Taylor Campos and Claire Brockway, finishing 32nd and 41st, earned All-Conference Freshmen accolades as well.
Campos, reflecting on her first experience at UAAs, was excited about how well the meet went,as well as the teamwork she and Brockway exhibited. “I’m very proud of how our team worked together over the entire course—Claire and I really pushed each other, which I think is helped both of us in the long run.”
On the other side of the coin, Horvath, considering her final conference meet, said, “It was crazy to think about this as my last conference meet. I love this team,and I just wanted to be able to lay it all out there for them.” Regardless of year, the South Siders’ passion for their team paid off, and they seem well positioned for another fast race at NCAAs.
The men raced well in the 8K over the weekend as well. They were well represented with four finishers in the top 40. Fourth-year Timofey Karginov was the first Maroon to cross the finish, coming in at seventh out of 76 with a time of 25:04.87. Like Kurtenbach, his speed earned him All-UAA First Team honors. He was followed by fourth-year Nick Nielsen, third-year Peter Kreuch, and second-year Jacob Gosselin, finishing 25th, 31st, and 40th, with times of 25:30.96, 25:49.47, and 26:00.26, respectively.
“The UAAis very deep this season and I’m happy with how we performed in a strong field,” Kreuch said. “Going forward, we need to keep executing our ‘pack running’ strategy. It’s important that our six to eight runners stay in close contact with our three to five for as long as possible.”
Coming off such a strong meet, the teams enjoy a brief break before heading back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the NCAA Midwest Regional on November 12. The dynamics of this race should be quite different, coming from the 90-degree heat in Atlanta to the usual Midwest chill.
