Idaho cross-country closed out the season with a successful Big Sky Championships meet. The women took third place overall and the men came in at fourth. Northern Arizona claimed the championship on both sides, with the women finishing with 51 points and three top 10 finishers and the men, the best team in the country, with 24 points.
“I’m just really proud of this team, I thought they ran fantastic,” Idaho director of track and field/cross country Tim Cawley said. “Just a really proud day to have Idaho written across our chests. The men finishing fourth and the women in third for the highest finishes we’ve had in the Big Sky, it was fantastic. I just couldn’t be more proud.” Junior Krista Story came out on top for the Vandal women in overall seventh place with a time of 17:44.2 in the 5k. Close behind her was her sister junior Kara Story in 11th with a 17:51.8.
Idaho’s season leader junior Andrea Condie took 17th overall with a time of 18:03.2. Sophomore Maizy Brewer finished seconds behind in 18:06.3 to take 20th overall. Redshirt junior Sierra Speiker rounded out the scorers for the Idaho women in 40th with a time of 18:31.4.
The men’s squad replicated last season’s results with an overall fourth place finish but improved the overall score from 164 points to 123.
Sophomore Dwain Stucker lead the Idaho pack in 18th overall with a time of 25:04.7 in the men’s 8k. Sophomore Drew Shultz and sophomore Tim Delcourt finished neck-in-neck in 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Shultz came in with a time of 25:11.7 and Delcourt with a 25:19.8.
Sophomore Fabian Cardenas and William Godfrey were the final scorers for the Vandals in 28th and 34th overall. Cardenas finished with a time of 25:34.3 and Godfrey with a 25:52.1.
Idaho cross-country now looks ahead to the NCAA West Region Championships beginning Nov. 10 in Seattle, Washington.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @mere0415