Friday, September 5
Ashland, Neb.
6:00 PM
Creighton University
vs
Platte River Rumble "Gold" (5K)
Owen Marett
Photo by: Jay Slagle
Youth Movement Leads Cross Country at Platte River Rumble "Gold"
9/5/2025 10:35:00 PM | Men's Cross Country / Track, Women's Cross Country / Track
Taylor Rorick and Owen Marett lead CU
ASHLAND, Neb. -- The Creighton Cross Country programs opened its fall 2025 season on Friday night as the women finished fifth and the men took seventh at the Platte River Rumble "Gold" races on Olsson Cross Country Course in Ashland, Neb. The meet was the first of three home meets for CU inside Mahoney State Park this year, including the BIG EAST Championships on October 31st.
An experienced Creighton women's side was led by Taylor Rorick, who placed ninth with a time of 17:44.796 in a time that was 23 seconds faster than her time in the same competition a year ago. It was the second Top 10 finish of the junior's career.
"Taylor had a great race on the ladies side, finishing top 10," said Creighton head coach Chris Gannon. "We had good performances from our freshmen and expected results from that group who has been around for a while."
Senior Carly Manchester (21st; 18:12.391) as well as freshmen Reyna Heisserer (26th; 18:18.924) and Atlee Wallman (30th;Â 18:26.414) all finished in the top 30 in the women's race, which contained 103 runners.Â
Iowa Western's Juliana Sakat won the women's race in a time of 17:02.04, 19 seconds faster than runner-up Cecilia Fisher (17:21.52) from Kansas State. Kansas State won the 10-team women's title with 34 points to finish ahead of Nebraska (68), South Dakota (71), Nebraska-Kearney (102) and Creighton (120).
A pair of freshmen led the Bluejay men, as Owen Marett (23rd; 18:31.654) and Andrew Sauer (29th; 18:41.712) both started their collegiate careers in fine fashion. Sophomores Lucas Bossinger (47th; 19:03.895) and Sam Berlinghof (54th; 19:09.903) bookended freshman Zack Janulewicz (51st; 19:08.364) to round out CU's top five.Â
"It was a solid opener for both teams," added Gannon. "We saw some good things and some areas we will need to improve upon. Three of our top four guys were running the first collegiate race of their life and executed pretty well."
The Iowa Western duo of Geofrey Ronoh (17:56.11) and Barnabas Ndiwa (17:58.91) led the men's field of 121 competitors. The Reivers also won the team title with 50 points, edging Northwest Missouri State (52) and Kansas State (79) among nine other schools. Creighton finished in seventh with 179 points, just behind Nebraska's 167.
"We need to close the gap on our back end scoring for both genders," noted Gannon. "We will get back to work and keep building towards are end of season goals."
The Bluejays are back in action on Sept. 20 for the Woody Greeno/Dirksen Cross-Country Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
Â
An experienced Creighton women's side was led by Taylor Rorick, who placed ninth with a time of 17:44.796 in a time that was 23 seconds faster than her time in the same competition a year ago. It was the second Top 10 finish of the junior's career.
"Taylor had a great race on the ladies side, finishing top 10," said Creighton head coach Chris Gannon. "We had good performances from our freshmen and expected results from that group who has been around for a while."
Senior Carly Manchester (21st; 18:12.391) as well as freshmen Reyna Heisserer (26th; 18:18.924) and Atlee Wallman (30th;Â 18:26.414) all finished in the top 30 in the women's race, which contained 103 runners.Â
Iowa Western's Juliana Sakat won the women's race in a time of 17:02.04, 19 seconds faster than runner-up Cecilia Fisher (17:21.52) from Kansas State. Kansas State won the 10-team women's title with 34 points to finish ahead of Nebraska (68), South Dakota (71), Nebraska-Kearney (102) and Creighton (120).
A pair of freshmen led the Bluejay men, as Owen Marett (23rd; 18:31.654) and Andrew Sauer (29th; 18:41.712) both started their collegiate careers in fine fashion. Sophomores Lucas Bossinger (47th; 19:03.895) and Sam Berlinghof (54th; 19:09.903) bookended freshman Zack Janulewicz (51st; 19:08.364) to round out CU's top five.Â
"It was a solid opener for both teams," added Gannon. "We saw some good things and some areas we will need to improve upon. Three of our top four guys were running the first collegiate race of their life and executed pretty well."
The Iowa Western duo of Geofrey Ronoh (17:56.11) and Barnabas Ndiwa (17:58.91) led the men's field of 121 competitors. The Reivers also won the team title with 50 points, edging Northwest Missouri State (52) and Kansas State (79) among nine other schools. Creighton finished in seventh with 179 points, just behind Nebraska's 167.
"We need to close the gap on our back end scoring for both genders," noted Gannon. "We will get back to work and keep building towards are end of season goals."
The Bluejays are back in action on Sept. 20 for the Woody Greeno/Dirksen Cross-Country Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
Â
Creighton Women's Finishes
9 Taylor Rorick 17:44.796
21 Carly Manchester 18:12.391
26  Reyna Heisserer 18:18.924
30  Atlee Wallman 18:26.414
40  Anika Nettekoven 18:47.337
41  Alexis Leone 18:49.172
45  Sophia Redler 18:52.968
50  Sophia Valentine 19:04.189
77  Scarlett Pearlman 19:59.017
Creighton Men's Finishes
23  Owen Marett 18:31.654
23  Owen Marett 18:31.654
29Â Â Andrew Sauer 18:41.712
54Â Â Sam Berlinghof 19:09.903
58  Eli Moore 19:18.313
65Â Â Gus Lampe 19:26.280
74  Cole Haith 19:41.451
76  Conor Gross 19:42.308
78 Dominic Ricci 19:45.746
90  Matthew Lindgren 20:25.949
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
Creighton Cross Country's Matthew Fayers Media Availability - 9/3/25
Wednesday, September 03
Creighton Cross Country Media Availability - 8/27/25
Wednesday, August 27
Creighton Media Availability - 8/20/25
Thursday, August 21
Creighton Javelin thrower Jacob Ludwick - NCAA First Round (5/28/25)
Wednesday, May 28
