Spartan runners improve at Grand View meet

INDIANOLA — Southwestern Community College’s men and women cross country teams delivered solid outings at the Viking Invitational, held at Pickard Park in Indianola last Friday.

The meet was moved from Water Works Park in Des Moines because of poor conditions there.

“I was very pleased with the effort of our athletes,” said SWCC coach Nick Ekel.

The course at Pickard Park challenged Spartan runners, and they adapted well to it.

“Pickard Park is as difficult a course as we will race all season,” Ekel said. “The mud and standing water on the course made the course even more difficult. Our athletes handled the conditions well. With the majority of our students from southwest Iowa they’re used to racing on hilly courses.”

Every single SWCC male runner set their season’s-best time over the 6k distance. Two of the four women ran their best time of the season over the 5k distance.

“For every man to set a season best at 6k, and two of our four women to set season bests at 5k speaks to the level of mental toughness they exhibited,” Ekel said.

Sophomore Nate Hoyt, from Shenandoah, paced the team with a seventh-place finish in 20 minutes, 32 seconds.

Hoyt ran well in the terrible conditions.

“Nate Hoyt thrives in races where the course or conditions are less than ideal,” Ekel said. “The guy has no fear. He had fun racing – and it showed with his seventh place performance with a time that was one minute and 28 seconds faster than his previous outing over 6k.”

Freshman Jalen Two Leggins from Hardin, Montana, Kevin Dietrich from Port Naches, Texas, and Jacob Bolinger from Clearfield, placed 18th, 19th and 21st respectively.

Freshman Alyssa Proffitt, from Afton, led the SWCC women with a 16th-place finish in a season’s-best time of 22:06.

“Alyssa Proffitt is motivated to do great things this fall, and she had a good race,” Ekel said. “Twenty-two o’six for 5k is one of the better times in Southwestern history. She should continue to improve as the season progresses.”

Freshman Odette Muziranenge, from West Des Moines, ran her season’s-best time as well, dropping five minutes from her time earlier this season.

“She’s been coming to practice every day with a smile, and she’s being rewarded with huge personal bests,” Ekel said. “As a coach, that’s what the sport is about.”

The Spartan women overcame the challenges in front of them.

“What stood out to me was the collective toughness of our women’s team,” Ekel said. “They did not allow the course conditions to adversely affect their race.”

The Spartans will be idle this next weekend before returning to racing at the Chili Pepper Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Men’s team results — 1. Drake 23; 2. Simpson 62; 3. Southwestern Community College 83; 4. Grand View 101; 5. William Penn 110; 6. Graceland 158.

SWCC men’s results — 7. Nathaniel Hoyt 20:32; 18. Jalen Two Leggins 21:24; 19. Kevin Dietrich 21:28; 21. Jacob Bolinger 21:31; 26. Chance Webster 22:04; 39. Collin Maag 23:30; 58. Travis Purdy 30:56.

Women’s team results — 1. Drake 18; 2. Grand View 78; 3. Graceland 78; 4. Simpson 98; 5. NIACC 139; 6. DMACC 150; 7. William Penn 167. Southwestern Community College was incomplete.

SWCC women’s results — 16. Alyssa Proffitt 22:06; 42. Jenna Faust 24:23; 59. Odette Muziranenge 27:01; 61. Madison Mace 27:31.