March 29, 2024

Spartan men sixth at Dan Huston Invite

WAVERLY — Four of the five Southwestern Community College men who raced here Saturday ran personal bests, as the Spartans finished sixth in the seven-team field at the Dan Huston Invitational.

Head coach Nick Ekel said racing conditions were perfect on Saturday. Southwestern scored 172 points, finishing just 32 points behind Region XI rival Indian Hills.

Freshman Nate Hoyt of Shenandoah led the way with a 57th-place finish in a personal best time of 28:26. Freshman Inia Sili took more than 3 minutes off his previous personal best, running 28:41 over the 8K course for 63rd.

Joe Blake, freshman from Shenandoah, ran 28:47 for 66th, while Gabe Esser and Chasen Selsor rounded out the team scoring for the Spartans.

“We only raced five men and we held out two of our scoring five runners,” Ekel said. “We have the potential to accomplish some great results if we can get healthy and stay consistent in training.”

Ekel said his team’s performance just eight days after last competing shows what his team is capable of, six weeks out from the national championships.

“Joe Blake and Chasen Selsor deserve a ton of praise, as they have been sidelined with some knee issues the past two weeks,” Ekel said. “The amount of cross training they have done in the Southern Prairie YMCA pool carried them through the race today. To set personal records today off of pool running shows how tough both of these young men are.”

The Spartans are off until Oct. 16, when they return to action at Loras College in Dubuque.

Dan Huston Invitational

WOMEN

Team scores — 1. Grinnell 46, 2. Wartburg 49, 3. Simpson 75, 4. Iowa State Club 88, 5. Clarke 125, 6. Indian Hills 196, 7. Carl Sandburg 200, 8. DMACC 202.

MEN

Team scores — 1. Wartburg 20, 2. UST 67, 3. Iowa State Club 69, 4. Simpson College, 5. Indian Hills 140, 6. Southwestern 172, 7. Clarke 200.

Individual leaders — 1. Zach Baker, Iowa Track Club, 25:38.6; 2. Zach Buchheit, Unattached, 26:00.1; 3. Terry Nielsen, Unattached, 26:03.3; 4. Rod Scanlon, ISU Club, 26:07.1; 5. Bennett Moser, Wartburg, 26:12.8; 6. Ryan Hermsen, Wartburg, 26:24.6; 7. Drew Burmahl, Unattached, 26:26.1; 8. Eli Kaczinski, Wartburg, 26:26.3; 9. Jerry Frawley, Wartburg, 26:29.5; 10. Kallas Kokare, Wartburg, 26:30.5.

Southwestern — 57. Nate Hoyt, 28:26.2; 63. Inia Sili, 28:41.0; 66. Joe Blake, 28:47.8; 77. Gabe Esser, 29:19.3; 86. Chasen Selsor, 30:11.8.