The Dordt University men's cross country team finished fifth at the Augustana Invitational, a meet held this morning at the Yankton Trails Park in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Competing against teams from the NAIA, NCAA D-II and D-II levels, the Defenders were the top NAIA finisher and placed fifth out of 19 teams. Dordt totaled 129 points, seven in back of fourth place MSU Moorhead. Three NCAA D-II teams, all ranked in the top 30, held down the top three spots, led by #19 Washburn (Kan.) with 54 points. Nebraska-Kearney (62pts) and Augustana (S.D.) (67pts) finished second and third, respectively. A total of 19 complete teams counted in the team scoring.
Three Defenders finished among the top 25 individuals, led by
Hudson Hamilton for the second consecutive meet. Hamilton, a sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, placed 13th overall with a personal-best, 8K time of 24:45, cutting nearly 50 seconds off his previous best. Hamilton was the second among NAIA runners, trailing Caleb Tofteland (Northwestern) by two seconds. The sophomore's time ranks 17th best in the NAIA to date.
Trace Obbink and
Jackson Prins were the second and third runners, respectively, to come across the finish line for the Defenders. Obbink placed 16th with a personal-best time of 24:48, over a minute faster than his previous best, and a time that puts the junior 18th in the NAIA. Prins came through the finish line chute in 23rd place with a personal-best time of 24:57, over 90 seconds faster than his previous best.
Two additional Dordt runners,
Jamison Velzke and
Caleb Van Beek, finished among the top 50. Velzke placed 35th with a personal-best time of 25:10 while Van Beek crossed the finish line in 25:23 to finish 47th and completed the Defenders scoring.
Gideon Hammah (University of Mary) won the 8K race with a time of 24:09.
"The men's team had an outstanding meet. Hudson, Trace, and Jackson raced well and went sub-25:00 for the first times in their career. Jamison, Caleb, and Lawson moved incredibly well over the middle-half of the race to provide another tight pack for the team. I was excited for the men to finish fifth in this tough field of NCAA Division 2 teams," said Dordt Head Coach Nate Wolf.
By the Numbers:
- the Defenders total time among their top five runners was 2:05:05 / top seven total time: 2:56:29
- Dordt's 1-5 split was 38 seconds; 1-7 split was 59 seconds
- this was the first 8K race that the Defenders competed in this season and second race overall (6K at the Sunflower Open)
- Defenders who posted a personal-best:
- 292 runners competed today
- 38 Defenders finished the race
Notes:
- three Defenders, Hamilton, Obbink and Prins, currently rank in the top 30 in the NAIA with their 8K time today
