DEKALB, Ill. - Competing against a tough NCAA Division I field, Judson University stayed strong in the field as they had runners finish in the top 25 for both men and women at the Northern Illinois University Invitational. Rachael Dean (Lindenhurst, IL/Lakes HS) was the top runner finishing fourth in the 5K while Zach Adams (Lake Geneva, WI/Badger HS) was 21st for the men in the 8K.
The women finished seventh of nine teams and were ahead of Iowa Western Community College and NCAA Division I Chicago State with 147 points. They were just 19 points off of finishing ahead of NCAA Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The men took fifth out of six teams and finished ahead of NCAA Division I Chicago State with 135 points.
"I am very pleased with how we ran today," says head coach Rich Weinhandl. "Each of our runners stayed together as a team and did well against this stiff competition. We keep improving each week and developing our skills as a team."
On the women's side, Dean finished fourth out of 105 runners which was all made up of NCAA Division I teams and one community college. She finished the 5k in 19:19 and was just seven seconds behind Northwestern University's top runner. Freshman Morgan Kimball (East Grand Rapids, MI/E. Grand Rapids HS) was the next runner to cross in 37th (21:25) followed by Kim Peek (Springdale, AR/Har-ber HS) in 40th (21:38), Sandra Hubbard (Hickory Hills, IL/Moraine Valley CC) in 42nd (21:40), and Kristal Pitts (Arlington Heights, IL/Palatine HS) in 44th (21:44) to round out the top five.
Adams led the men's team with a 21st place finish amongst 64 runners which were all NCAA Division I and one community college. He had a time of 28:48 in his first ever 8K. Freshman Nate Nevius (Fremont, NE/Fremont HS) was right behind Adams in 25th place (29:05). Finishing out the top five were Luke Kierys (Palatine, IL/Palatine HS) in 30th (29:26), Kyle Julian (Marathon, WI/Marathon HS) in 31st (29:35), and Robert Altenburger (West Salem, OH/Black River HS) in 32nd (29:37).
Josiah Smith (60th - 36:03)
