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ANKENY - Southwestern Community College freshman Chase Oates continued his hot streak to start the season with a 16th-place finish Saturday at the Viking Invitational hosted by Grand View University at DMACC’s Ankeny campus.
One week after running under the institutional national qualifying standard of 28 minutes with his time of 27:34.3 at the Greeno-Dirksen Invite in Lincoln, Nebraska, which put him No. 20 on SWCC’s all-time cross country list for the 8K race distance, Oates took shaved 21 seconds off his time. The freshman from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, who never ran cross country in high school, crossed the finish line in 27:12.9 to move into 13th on SWCC’s all-time list.
“For being brand new to the sport, Chase looks like a true veteran out there on the course,” said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field at Southwestern. “The way he has run these first two 8K races has been almost perfect, showing lots of patience and running even splits.”
The new PR time for Oates helped earn him ICCAC Athlete of the Week honors for men’s cross country.
“Chase is a great example of what happens when someone is willing to put in the hard work required to be successful in cross country,” Vicker said. “He has put together a fantastic first half of our season, and I’m glad he was recognized for it. These next two weeks of being able to train without a race on the weekend will be critical to his continued development as a cross country runner. I think he has the potential to continue to lower his time over the course of our next few meets in preparation for the NJCAA Championships.”
Freshman Michael Mayer was the second Spartan across the finish line in 80th place, while Ben Olson finished 102nd. Jonathon Hackett and Leland Perkins rounded out the scoring for the Spartans in 110th and 113th places, while Joe Sonntag finished 114th. Hackett and Sonntag both ran new PRs Saturday, with Hackett taking 1:41 off his previous 8K best and Sonntag running 1:12 faster than his previous best.
“We have an overall young group of runners this fall,” Vicker said. “Some of these guys are learning how to run cross country on the fly, but I am proud of the effort they are putting into it. They have done a great job of competing to the best of their abilities.”
The Spartans next compete on Friday, Oct. 14, at the Indian Hills Invitational. It will be the final tune-up for the Spartans before the Region XI Championships, which are held Sunday, Oct. 30, at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Oates will conclude his season on Saturday, Nov. 12, at the NJCAA Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on Florida State University’s home course, which hosted the NCAA Division I national championships last fall.