ELMHURST, Ill. - In exciting fashion, the Judson University men's and women's cross country teams opened up the 2009 season with gusto at the Elmhurst College Invitational. Both teams finished in the top 10 with the women in fifth and the men in eighth.
Sophomore Rachael Dean (Lindenhurst, IL/Lakes HS) continued her regular season streak of finishing in the top 10 as she was fifth (4K - 15:36). She has now finished in the top 10 in all of her collegiate meets in the regular season.
In his first collegiate men's meet, freshman Nate Nevius (Fremont, NE/Fremont HS) led Judson with a 36th place finish overall (6K - 20:38) and was 25th for points.
The women's team finished with 111 points and was fifth out of 13 teams that competed. They were just 18 points behind CCAC opponent Illinois Tech (93) who finished in fourth place. Judson finished 67 points ahead of Trinity Christian who was in sixth place and St. Francis (IL) in seventh place (183).
Following Dean in the top 20 were Kim Peek (Springdale, AR/Har-Ber HS) in 17th (16:15) and freshman Ana Garcia (Maywood, IL/Walter Lutheran HS) in 20th (16:18). Kristal Pitts (Arlington Heights, IL/Palatine HS) came in 35th (16:44) and Morgan Kimball (E. Grand Rapids, MI/E. Grand Rapids HS) rounded out the top five in 50th (17:12). Just behind Kimball was freshman Stephanie Belokon (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South HS) in 57th (17:21). There were 168 runners on the women's side.
The men showed that they are a very competitive program this year taking eighth place with 192 points out of 17 teams. They were behind fellow CCAC teams Illinois Tech (5th - 166) and St. Francis (4th - 148).
After Nevius' finish in 36th, freshman Zach Adams (Lake Geneva, WI/Badger HS) was in 48th (20:50) followed by Dakota West (62nd - 21:22), Thomas Jarrett (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) in 63rd (21:22), Tim Ciochon (Fremont, NE/Fremont HS) in 68th (21:25), and Robert Altenburger (West Salem, OH/Black River HS) in 71st (21:30).
Judson will next compete at the Northern Illinois University Invitational on Saturday, September 15th.
Stephen Cooksey 202nd 31:43
