The Grand View women's cross country team placed 3rd at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships at Ewing Park in Des Moines on Saturday. The team was paced by freshman Obsie Birru as she was named the MCC Harrier of the Year for her 1st place finish. Freshman McKelle Lacher was the second runner across the line for the Vikings placing 7th overall to earn MCC All-Conference honors. Sara Hendrickson (10th), Megan Winkelmann (16th), and Betsy Craig (30th) rounded out Grand View's top five.
Mount Mercy won the team race with a score 46 points and earning an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships.
The Grand View men's team placed 3rd at with Seniors Brandon Bond and Jon Aldrich leading the way for the Vikings placing 4th and 6th overall earning them both MCC All-Conference honors. Sophomore Alan Paton (17th), freshman Drew Messerschmidt (19th) and Jordan Davis (24th) rounded out the Vikings top five finishers.
The NAIA released its list of National Qualifiers on Monday afternoon and Grand View University will be represented by three individuals at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course on November 22nd in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Senior Brandon Bond will be making his second straight appearance at the NAIA National Championships. Bond finished in 4th place overall at the MCC Championships to earn his bid to this year's national championships. He looks to improve upon his performance from last season's national meet.
Fellow senior Jon Aldrich will be making his debut at the national meet. Aldrich finished in 6th place overall at the MCC Championships earning All-Conference honors for the first time and receiving a bid to the national championships.
Freshman standout, Obsie Birru, will be making her first appearance at the NAIA National Championships. Birru was this year's MCC Conference Champion which earned her a trip to Kenosha to compete in the national meet. She is Grand View's first ever female national qualifier in the sport of cross country, since the program started in the fall of 2003.
Malone (Ohio) is the top ranked men's team in the NAIA. They look to be challenged by #2 ranked Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and #3 ranked Aquinas (Mich.). On the women's side Cedarville (Ohio) is the top ranked team followed by #2 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and #3 ranked California State-San Marcos.
For the sixth time this season Obsie Birru (Des Moines, IA) has been named Midwest Collegiate Conference Runner of the Week. Birru won the Yellowjacket Invitational hosted by Graceland University with a field of 144 runners. She ran a 5k time of 18:34 leading the women's team to a 7th place team finish.
The Vikings are off until Saturday, November 8th when they host the 2008 Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships at Ewing Park in Des Moines. The women's 5k race will begin at 10am followed by the men's 8k race at 10:45am.
The Grand View women's cross country team competed in the Yellowjacket Classic hosted by Graceland University on Saturday morning. Freshman Obsie Birru won the meet and led the women's team to a 7th place team finish. Birru covered the 5k course in 18:34, finishing 25 seconds ahead of runner-up Francine Nzilampa of Lindenwood. McKelle Lacher was Grand View's second finisher placing 29th followed by Megan Winkelmann in 42nd place.
William Woods University (ranked # 30 in the NAIA) won the meet with a score of 63 points, followed by Lindenwood (ranked # 23 in the NAIA) with 68 points and Mid-America Nazarene finished in 3rd place with 95 points.
The Vikings are off until Saturday, November 8th when they host the 2008 Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships at Ewing Park in Des Moines. The women's 5k race will begin at 10am followed by the men's 8k race at 10:45am.
| Grand View at | 10:30am |
| NAIA National Championships - Kenosha, Wisconsin | |
