The Seattle U cross country teams hit the ground running at the University of North Dakota’s Ron Pynn Classic to begin the 2010 season on Saturday with UND and South Dakota State. The meet was run as a “double dual,” with all three teams running at once but being scored as separate dual races against each other.
In the men’s 8k race, junior Erik Barkhaus (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) finished second in 25:03.44, just five seconds behind South Dakota State’s Michael Krsnak, who won with a time of 24:58.87. Veteran Redhawk senior Michael Van Nuland (Newcastle, Wash.) placed ninth with a time of 25:46.46, and right behind him was sophomore Kelton Sears (Maple Valley, Wash.) in 25:48.50.
Junior Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) placed 12th in 25:59.46, senior Nick Cannata-Bowman (San Francisco, Calif.) placed 14thin 26:19.57, senior Adam Kollgaard (Kent, Wash.) 15th in 26:23.43, and freshman Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) 16th with a time of 26:24.32.
On the women’s side, newcomer Cara Talty (Raritan, N.J.) proved herself with a third place finish in 18:31.98 for the 5k course. Sophomore Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash) was ninth with a time of 19:14.31, junior Celeste Cassidy (Bellingham, Wash.) came in after her in 19:22.85, and freshman Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) was six seconds later in 11th (19:28.57).
Junior Nicole Waters (Phoenix, Ariz.) placed 15th in 19:59.56, senior Allison Prather (Carpinteria, Calif.) came in 18th in 20:13.21, and junior Ashley Dalton (Bellingham, Wash.) finished 30th with a time of 20:56.97.
“I am very happy with how the team raced this morning. It was a good indicator of where we are to start the season versus our end of season goals. The team looks very good right now,” said head coach Trisha Steidl.
As a team, the men defeated the University of North Dakota but lost to South Dakota State. The women lost to both UND and SDS, both by narrow margins.
The Redhawks will see their next competition at the West Coast Preview on Sept. 10th at Pier Park in Portland Ore., followed by the Sundodger Invitational on Sept. 18th closer to home at Lincoln Park in West Seattle, Wash.