The Park University cross country programs were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday running in the 2023 Heart Championships.
The Pirates had one of their strongest performances of the season, taking 2
nd as a team. They put themselves in a great position for a potential national qualification and will await the NAIA's team and individual qualifier announcement.
The women's team represented in the conference championship as well with 11
th of 12 teams.
Leading the Pirates in his first season is Head Coach
Rikki Hacker, who was named the 2023 Heart Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
The Pirates had two 2023 Heart All-Conference performances from
Lukas Mehl and
Andrew Figueroa. Mehl and Figueroa had life time personal records with a 25:16.8 for 4
th place and a first team all-conference award for Mehl, while Figueroa was all-conference honorable mention in 11
th with a time of 25:44.8.
Wegner played his part in the team success with a personal record of his with a time of 26:05.0 for 17
th.
Manuel Reyes had a strong showing inside the top 25 at 25
th in a new personal best of 26:31.0 in the 8k.
Coming in right at 27 minutes was
Ethan Willmann for 35
th in a time of 27:00.8. Consider this another Pirate personal record for Willmann.
Tom Kuehnel grabbed 44
th after crossing the finish at 27:20.3.
See the full results below:
Results
On the women's side, in her first race for Park, Destiny Pearson led the way in 58
th with a 26:40.8 in the women's 6k. This has been a bump up from previous 5k events put on at conference and national levels.
Soon
McKenzie Carty rolled in for 67
th place in a time of 27:27.4 and not far off was Jasmin Klaunig's time of 28:08.7 for 73
rd.
The final three Pirates crossed in similar times, as
Hope Klamm and
Sophia Lane took 93
rd and 94
th, while
Faith Klamm took 97
th.
See the full results below:
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