Women's Cross Country Saturday, November 4, 2023 NWC Athletic Communications

Nine Raiders PR at GPAC Championships

Haverdink leads Raiders in 20th place overall

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – On a chilly 42 degree Saturday morning, the time came for the all-or-nothing meet of the season, the Great Plains Athletic Conference XC Championship. The ladies lined up in the chutes with their goals to be PRs, but the team goal to be 3^rd. In a bitter sweet turn of events, they would only accomplish one of these feats. 9 out of the 10 Raiders that raced would run a lifetime PR of the 6k distance, a remarkable feat for the team. Many of the ladies would finish within seconds of each other, showing how they used each other throughout the race.

Running in the front again for the Raiders was Emily Haverdink to place 20^th overall. There is a chance that she is able to qualify for the NAIA National XC meet, but it is contingent on the 3^rd place women's team from the GPAC meet making it to the NAIA National meet. Caitlin Alberts, familiar with the front of the pack as well would finish closely behind Haverdink to 26^th overall. Emma Haley, in the third PR of the meet, Haverdink and Alberts both hitting those marks, would come in third for the ladies with her PR time being nearly a minute faster than her previous.

Fourth for the Raiders was Megan Bosch, seeming to be fully back from her injury last year. Bosch would have her highest team finish of her career, and come through in another PR time and 46^th overall.

Freshman standout Brielle Engelmann would give Bosch a run for her money in the final sprint finish, but ultimately be beaten by a single second, to a fifth place finish for the team, 47^th overall, and her own PR time. Abby Ervin following only a mere five seconds behind in sixth place for the team ad 50^th place overall, in yet another PR time. Rounding out the top-seven scoring members of the team was Julia Fehr, only two seconds behind Ervin, her own PR time.

Although they were outside of the top 7 scorers, fellow Freshman Standouts Lili Nelson and Allie Hough would run their own PR times as well.

Commenting about the race, Scott Bahrke said: "I'm tremendously proud of the team today. They came to race, and they all stepped up. In the world of athletics, so did every other team. The margin between the goal of 3^rd to where they ended up at 7^th was a mere 20 points, and only 4 to 6^th place, which is incredibly small in the world of XC. You can't be disappointed in the fastest team time this year, and the number of PRs the ladies had. The long view is to see how this will set them up for an exciting indoor and outdoor track season."

RAIDER RESULTS (bold indicates PR)

Emily Haverdink 22:48 – 20^th
Caitlin Alberts 23:12 – 26^th
Emma Haley 23:38 – 31
Megan Bosch 24:33 – 46^th
Brielle Engelmann 24:34 – 47^th
Abby Ervin 24:39 – 50^th
Julia Fehr 24:41 – 53^rd
Lili Nelson 24:52 – 60^th
Allie Hough 25:00 – 64^th
Ellie Zeutenhorst 25:02 – 65^th

Up Next: The NAIA XC National Championship will be held on Nov. 17^th in Vancouver, Washington, with the next competition being the Track and Field-Bulldog Early Bird in Seward, Nebraska on December 9/10.

Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut

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Players Mentioned

Caitlin Jacobsma: 5' 6"; Junior

Megan Engelmann: 5' 8"; Junior

Abby Ervin: 5' 5"; Junior

Julia Fehr: 5' 2"; Junior

Emma Haley: 5' 9"; Junior

Emily DeGroot: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Ellie Zeutenhorst: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Brielle Engelmann: 5' 7"; Freshman

Allie Hough: 5' 6"; Freshman

Lili Nelson: 5' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Caitlin Jacobsma
: 5' 6"; Junior

Megan Engelmann
: 5' 8"; Junior

Abby Ervin
: 5' 5"; Junior

Julia Fehr
: 5' 2"; Junior

Emma Haley
: 5' 9"; Junior

Emily DeGroot
: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Ellie Zeutenhorst
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Brielle Engelmann
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Allie Hough
: 5' 6"; Freshman

Lili Nelson
: 5' 4"; Freshman