Cross Country Seasons End at NCAA Regional Meet

STILLWATER, Okla. -- A pair of seniors led the Creighton men's and women's cross country teams at the season-ending NCAA Regionals in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday morning. Eli Moore took 98th to pace the men while Carly Manchester finished 116th to lead the Bluejay women.

Despite racing just one of the seven men who competed in last year's Regional, the Bluejay men placed 24th of 30 teams in the 10K race that was won by host Oklahoma State (38) by three points over Iowa State (41).

"We're missing a couple key people on both the men's and women's side, but for the kids we had available to use today that were healthy we ran pretty well," said head coach Chris Gannon. "Our women's team moved up from where they were a year ago. The men's team lost a lot of talent from last year between redshirts and graduation and performed pretty well."

Moore finished off his first 10K of the season in 32:58.8, more than a minute faster than his time on the same course two years ago. Gannon was pleased with the senior's performance. "Eli ran a really smart race. He's become a really mature runner and he knows his body. He moved up throughout the race, executed really, really well, and it's awesome to see that from a senior."

Not far behind was Oliver Annus, who took 103rd after clocking a 33:01.5 in his NCAA Regional debut.

Andrew Sauer's first taste of a 10K race saw the freshman finish 152nd in 34:07.2. Sophomores Lucas Bossinger (153rd in 34:07.6) and Sam Berlinghof (155th in 34:09.2) were packed in right behind Sauer.

Not counting towards CU's team score was junior Dominic Ricci (164th in 34:21.6) and senior Cole Haith (186th in 35:47.9).

"That jump to 10K, especially on this course, is a huge challenge. You've got to be excited about where things are headed with a good group of people that will continue to be here next year as we continue to build. I know this group of guys are excited to get to work for the track season and that's what we're going to look forward to next."

Oklahoma State's Denis Kipngetich (29:42.8) won the men's race that featured 212 runners, just ahead of Iowa State's Joash Ruto (29:46.0).

A short-handed Creighton women's team placed 27th of 32 teams, up four spots from last year's Regional race.

Manchester paced the Bluejays for the just the second time in her career, joining the 2024 NCAA Regionals, as she crossed the finish line in 22:34.2 to place 116th. Manchester's time was 54 seconds faster than her performance on the same course two years ago for Regionals.

Another senior, Anika Nettekoven, closed her cross country career 125th in a time of 22:42.4, which was exactly 10 seconds faster than freshman teammate Reyna Heisserer (22:52.4) in 142nd place.

Katherine Soule was 171st in 23:17.3 and freshman Sophia Redler wrapped up her freshman campaign 197th in 23:50.2. Also competing for CU was junior Sophia Valentine, who took 205th in 24:10.2.

Gannon was pleased with how Manchester and Nettekoven closed out their careers on the trail. "It's awesome to see their growth over four years here. Not just in running, but their growth in leadership, and leaving it all out here. Our team as a whole is in a better place than when they got here. That's the biggest thing I can always ask for as a coach is that they leave that type of positive impact on our program.".

The Bluejay women raced without Taylor Rorick, who led CU in three different races this fall. Freshman Atlee Wallman started but did not complete the race, which started 90 minutes early to avoid temperatures in Stillwater near 80 degrees that were expected to challenge the city's all-time record for Nov. 14th. Gannon called the Greiner Family XC Course the hardest course in the country.

Oklahoma State won the women's team title with 55 points, with Northwestern (86) finishing as runner-up. OSU freshmen Isca Chelangat (19:48.4) and Maureen Rutoh (19:50.4) led all runners in the 235-woman race.

Creighton's indoor track season begins next month, while cross country will return to the course next fall.

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Players Mentioned

Oliver Annus

Sam Berlinghof

Lucas Bossinger

Cole Haith

Reyna Heisserer

Carly Manchester

Eli Moore

Anika Nettekoven

Sophia Redler

Dominic Ricci

Taylor Rorick

Andrew Sauer

Katherine Soule

Sophia Valentine

Atlee Wallman