The 18th-ranked Dordt University men's cross country team won both team titles and one individual championship at its home meet, the Holiday Inn Express Classic, held today on the Defenders Cross Country Course.
Competing in their third meet of the season and second on their home course, Dordt won the team title in both the Gold and Black Divisions this morning. The Defenders had all five of its scorers place among the top 20 and totaled 49 points to outlast Doane in the Gold Division standings. Doane accounted for 81 points, followed by South Dakota Mines, an NCAA D-II program, with 84 points.
Trace Obbink pulled away over the final 1000m to win his first individual title in a Defenders uniform, crossing the 8K finish line in 24:57, 19 seconds in front of second place Caleb Toftleand (Northwestern). Two Doane runners, Alvin Keter and Jayden Wall, placed third and fourth respectively, followed by Brendan Alfonso (Benedictine) in fifth place. Obbink's time was nine seconds off his personal-best time set last time out at Augustana.
Hudson Hamilton was the second Dordt runner to come across the finish line, doing so in seventh place with a time of 25:29 for his second top 10 finish of the season.
Jamison Velzke and
Bennett Visser were up next for the Defenders, placing 12th and 13th respectively with times of 25:50 and 25:52.
Brett Gifford finished just outside the top 15, placing 16th with a time of 26:00.
Three additional Dordt runners placed among the top 30, led by
Jackson Prins in 20th place with a time of 26:07, while
Caleb Van Beek (27th - 26:32) and
Tyler Rozenboom (28th - 26:32) were the Defenders seventh and eighth runners.
Lawson Burkhart and
Justin Kroeze complete the Defenders top 10, placing 50th and 58th, respectively.
Dordt claimed the team title in the Black Division with a near-perfect score of 17 points and six runners among the top 10.
Isaac Fagan finished as the runner-up to an unattached runner (Seth Cheney) with a time of 26:40, recording his best ever finish as a Defender. Dordt's top six runners all posted their best ever finish.
Two Defender freshmen,
Simon Roelofs and
Mason Gaulke, finished third and fourth with times of 26:57 and 27:02.
Jonathan Breems,
Steven Hebert, who was making his season-debut for the Defenders, and
Anderson Schuttinga, finished 6th - 8th.
"It was a strong performance on a tough day of racing. In both divisions of racing, the men pressed well and moved strongly through the middle of the race. Trace Obbink had a great day, securing the first win of his collegiate career. The depth of the team was apparent as several athletes traded positions within the scoring five and seven from earlier races this season. The Black Division Race was exciting as Isaac Fagan and Mason Gaulke led the collegiate runners for much of the race. Simon Roloefs also had a very strong race, moving very well from mile 3 to mile 5. It was exciting to see Dordt win both divisions of the meet," commented Dordt University Head Coach Nate Wolf.
By the Numbers:
- 13 teams, 111 runners competed in the Gold Divsion
- 5 teams, 106 runners competed in the Black Division
- Dordt's 1-5 split, Gold Division: 1:04 seconds; 1-7 split: 1:35
- Dordt's 1-5 split, Black Division: 31 seconds; 1-7 split: 47 seconds
- 41 Defenders ran in the two races
Notes:
