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Photo / Siouxland Sports Authority.com
Monte Larsen placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles at the NAIA National Championships |
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Kara Nelson |
Brian Gesink |
Morningside's men's and women's cross country teams will make their season debuts this Saturday at the Concordia University Invitational in Seward, Neb.
The Mustang women enter the season ranked 19th nationally in the NAIA Pre-Season Poll. Morningside qualified for the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships as a team for the first time in school history last year, and five of the seven runners who competed for the Mustangs at the national meet are back.
The Mustangs return their top runner in Kara Nelson, a senior from Cherokee, Iowa, who finished 30th at last year’s NAIA National Championships to earn NAIA All-America honors. Nelson is a three-time NAIA national qualifier.
Lydia Ford, a junior from Vermillion, S.D.; Tabitha Shepherd, a sophomore from Corning, Iowa; Nicole Seier, a sophomore from Lincoln, Neb.; and Jenna Kral, a sophomore from Crete, Neb., all return from last year’s national meet lineup. The Mustangs also bring back Jessica Hudelson, a junior from Elk Point, S.D., who hopes to build off a highly successful 2010 track & field season where she emerged as one of the premier middle distance runners in the GPAC.
The Mustangs’ newcomers include Courtney Ruff, a freshman from Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was a state qualifier as a prep senior at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson High School; Cecily Waddell, a freshman from West Platte, Mo., who placed third at last year’s Missouri Class 1 state meet for West Platte High School; and Tressa Miller, a junior from Corning, Iowa, who was a two-time national qualifier for Southwestern Community College.
With a good mix of returning veterans and newcomers, the Mustang men hope to be an up and coming team in the GPAC. Their top returning runner is Brian Gesink, a senior from Sioux Center, Iowa, who was a NAIA national qualifier as a sophomore. Morningside also brings back four of its other top seven runners from last season in Grant Aden, a sophomore from Syracuse, Neb.; Monte Larsen, a sophomore from Neola, Iowa; Todd Wolf, a junior from Corning, Iowa; and Joel Dorsett, a sophomore from Sioux City.
The Mustangs’ top freshman recruit is Garret Ehlers of Ida Grove, Iowa, who prepped at Odebolt-Arthur-Battle Creek-Ida Grove High School and was Iowa’s 2009 Class 2A state champion. Morningside also hopes for big things from Taylor Kube, a freshman from Crofton, Neb., who placed fifth at last year’s Nebraska Class D state meet for Crofton High School.
The Mustangs added a pair of experienced runners via the transfer route with the additions of Derik Simenson, a sophomore from Sioux City who helped lead William Woods University to a second place finish at the 2009 Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships; and Jescy Rodriguez, a sophomore from North Arlington, N.J., who previously attended Kean University.
 Morningside is ranked 19th nationally in the NAIA women’s cross country pre-season poll.
Morningside returns five of their seven runners who competed at last year’s NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships when the Mustangs qualified for the national meet as a team for the first time in school history.
The Mustangs’ top returning runner is Kara Nelson, a senior from Cherokee, Iowa, who finished 30th at last year’s national meet to earn NAIA All-America honors.
Morningside is one of two teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) ranked in the NAIA Pre-Season Top 25. The other GPAC team is Concordia, which is ranked 12th.
The Mustangs will open the 2010 season on Saturday, Sept. 4, at the Concordia Invitational in Seward, Neb.
Click here for the complete NAIA Pre-Season Top 25.
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