Women’s Cross Country Earns First at Conference Meet, Men Take Second

Jackie Spelts and Hayley Sutter placed first and second to lead the Nebraska Wesleyan University women to their fourth straight team title at the GPAC Cross Country Championships hosted at Valley View Golf Course in Fremont, Neb., on Saturday morning (Nov. 7).

The NWU men placed second behind Concordia University, marking just the second time since the GPAC began that the Prairie Wolves did not win the men's title.

Jackie Spelts won the GPAC Championship. Spelts, who placed second last year at the GPAC Championships, ran a time of 17:53.85 to easily win the individual title. Teammate Hayley Sutter ran a time of 18:29.75 to place second place. Three other NWU runners also placed in the top 20 to help the NWU women earn their eighth title in 10 years.

Hannah Kinberg was in the top 10 with a sixth place finish, while sophomore Katie Nelson also was in the top 10, crossing the finish line in ninth place. First-year Amanda Costello just missed the top 10 with an 11th place finish.

For the NWU men, five runners placed in the top 20 to help the Prairie Wolves finish second with 72 team points. Senior Logan Watley led NWU with a fifth place finish in a time of 25:23.58. He was the lone runner to be in the top 10. Brian Copley was 13th, Neil Wolford 16th, Ryan Osberg placed 18th and Mike Rathje was 20th to round out the top five for NWU.

Concordia had seven runners place in the top 14 to win the team title with 26 points.

NWU will now prepare for their biggest race of the season when they take part in the Central Region Championships to try and qualify for the NCAA III Championships.

The meet will be held Nov. 14 in Grinnell, Iowa.