Led by Junior Bryce Henry, who finished 187th in a time of 28:43, the Northland LumberJacks finished 39th at the NCAA III Midwest region meet hosted by Augustana College at the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, IL. All seven Jacks ran season best times in spite of running in 15 – 20 mile per hour winds. “The men ran fantastic today.” States Head Coach Dave Beeksma, “The wind was really stiff, so for all of them to drop their times by as much as they did speaks volumes to the work they have done all season.” Following Henry was Junior Christopher Goscinak with a personal best time of 29:41, Junior Max Metz (30:09), Junior Marty Schoofs (30:32), First Year Antony Frater (30:47), Junior Will Schlager (30:56), and Sophomore Kevin Roberton (32:34). “At the beginning of the season we were hoping to have five runners break the 30 minute mark.” Comments Coach Beeksma, “We were close today. We had two under 30 and four more less than a minute off that mark. All of them will return next year, along with First Year Noel Cockney who was hampered by tendonitis in his knee all season long. So we have set an even higher goal of getting our top seven under the 30-minute mark next season. Our focus is always on improvement. This year’s team not only ran faster than their times last year, they took 30 points off of last year’s region score despite loosing the number two runner. Next year we will be led by a wonderful group of seniors who are determined to keep working hard to improve.”
North Central College won the Men’s race with a very strong score of 51. Brandon Mull of Wheaton College took the individual championship with a time of 24:33.
Results