Men's and Women's Cross Country Sweep First Place at the Platte River Rumble

ASHLAND, Neb. -- A first place finish by sophomore Evan Kraus and third place finish by sophomore Taylor Rorick powered the Creighton men's and women's cross country teams to titles at the Platte River Rumble on Friday afternoon in Ashland, Neb. The men's team victory marked the second consecutive year the Bluejays have taken the gold at their home course, Olsson XC Course, located at Mahoney State Park.

"It was great to see them work together today," said head coach Chris Gannon. "It was a next-level performance team wise and I am excited to see where they are at heading into the BIG EAST Championships in two weeks."

Kraus stormed through the windy conditions to earn first place in the 8K race of 117 men, conquering the course in 25:33.07. The Erie, Colo. native was followed by four other Bluejays in the top 10, as senior Ryan Montera, junior Noah Jodon, senior Jake Ziebarth, and sophomore Tommy Murray all contributed the final times in route to the team title on the men's side. Montera clocked in at fourth place (25:43.93), finishing three seconds ahead of Jodon in fifth place (25:46.72). Ziebarth trailed Jodon to finish sixth place (25:51.49), while Murray collected seventh place (25:54.05) just seconds behind Ziebarth. The four-pack of Bluejays completed the course to round out the scores for the Creighton team victory.

Finishing second behind Creighton's Kraus was Nebraska-Kearney's Nick Abdalla. Abdalla completed the course with a time of 25:39.51 and was supported by teammate, Mesuidi Ejerso. Ejerso clocked in at eighth place to close in on a second place team finish for the Lopers. The only school with more than two top-10 finishers, the Creighton men ran to a team title with a score of 23 to take down Nebraska-Kearney (50) and Simpson College (94). The men's race included eight schools, plus a pack of unattached runners.

The Creighton women's team also captured the gold in its 6K race with 21 points, dominating Omaha (55) and Nebraska-Kearney (78) among six competitors.

Rorick guided the Jays to the gold, posting a third place finish with a time of 22:40.76. Following Rorick closely was the junior trio of Carly Manchester, Katherine Soule and Anika Nettekoven. Manchester earned a fifth place finish with a time of 22:49.82. Three seconds behind Manchester was Soule to finish sixth place with a time of 22:52.16, followed by a seventh place finish by Nettekoven (23:08.63).

Rounding out the top-10 for Creighton was freshman Madeline Lage, recording a time of 23:14.10 for 10th place out of 86 participants.

Omaha junior Kamryn Ensley won the women's race by 11 seconds to finish the course in 22:02.59, defeating Southeast CC's Karen Kiratu (22:13.64) and Creighton's Rorick.

Depth played a large factor for the Creighton men's and women's team's first place finish, seeing five Bluejays in the top 10 at the Platte River Rumble for both squads. The Jays used their course experience to their advantage and will look to do the same next season as the course will play host to the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships next year.

Both Creighton cross country teams are off to prepare for the BIG EAST Championships presented by JEEP on Nov. 1 at Morven Park in Leesburg, Va.

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Men's and Women's Cross Country Sweep First Place at the Platte River Rumble

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Players Mentioned

Noah Jodon

Evan Kraus

Madeline Lage

Carly Manchester

Ryan Montera

Tommy Murray

Anika Nettekoven

Taylor Rorick

Katherine Soule

Jake Ziebarth