The Dordt University men's cross country team concluded its 2024 season at the NAIA National Championship held this morning at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo.
Dordt, ranked 11th in the final coaches' poll, placed 25th overall with 528 points, three behind Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and one point ahead of Campbellsville (Ky.). This was the ninth time the Defenders finished among the top 25 teams in their 11 total appearances at the NAIA Championship.
College of Idaho edged defending national champion Milligan (Tenn.) by nine points to claim the 2024 team title. The Yotes, with 87 total points, had three runners finish in the top 15 and four of their five counters among the top 25.
Ethan Summerhays was the top Dordt runner and finished as an NAIA All-American for the second consecutive season. Summerhays ran a personal-best time of 24:36, an incredible 24 seconds faster than his previous best, and finished 34th overall in the field of 326 runners. The senior passed the first checkpoint (1000m) in 94th place but continued a gradual move towards the front of the pack throughout the race, ending with a 3:00 split over the final 1K. This was the fourth NAIA Championship that Summerhays has competed in; he was part of the Defenders 2022 squad that won the national title in Tallahassee, Fla.Â
Tage Hulstein was the second Defender runner to cross the finish line, completing the 8K course in 77th place with a personal-best time of 25:00. Competing in his first national championship race, Hulstein moved up 43 spots throughout the race after crossing the 1K checkpoint in 120th place. Hulstein's time was a 14 second personal best and matched his highest finish (2nd) for the Defenders team this season.
Aidan Vorster finished today's championship in 143rd place, completing the race in 25:26. This was the third time Vorster competed in the championship event and like Summerhays, was part of the Defenders 2022 national championship team. Vorster has been one of the Defenders top three runners in every race this season.
Levi Landman was the fourth Dordt runner to come across the finish line area and did so in 204th place with an 8k time of 25:52. Landman moved up 30 spots over the final 5000m, including nine spots over the final 1000m with his second fastest split of the race (3:07). This was the first NAIA Championship that Landman competed in.
Sam May was the final Dordt runner to count towards the team score as the junior ran a personal-best time of 25:57 and finished 215th. May chipped six seconds off his previous-best time (at the Blazing Tiger Classic earlier this season) and moved up 32 spots over the final 5000m, ending with his second fastest 1K split (3:08).Â
Craig Becker (236th - 26:10) and
Luke Swanson (289th - 27:03) completed the Defender runners. Both Becker and Swanson were running in their second NAIA Championship.
Every Silva, a senior from Oklahoma City, was the individual champion with a time of 23:14, 30 seconds ahead of the second place runner (Demetris Love Jr - Embry-Riddle Arizona).
Defender Notes:
- Dordt's average 8K time was 25:22
- Defenders 1-5 split - 1:21; 1-7 split - 2:27
- three Dordt runners ran personal best times
- Summerhays was the top runner from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC)
- Vaughn Hendrickson (Concordia) - 36th
- this was the 11th time the Defenders qualified for the championship as a team
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