RESULTS

GREELEY, Colo. – The women's squad impressed on Saturday at the 2019 Big Sky Cross Country Championships, taking second among a loaded field behind a strong team performance.  The men's squad placed sixth overall.
 
"I'm just really excited, really proud of both teams," said director of track and field/cross country, Tim Cawley.  "Especially the women.  It was just a tough-fought battle.  They hung together, ran together as a team.  Then to come in second, our highest finish since rejoining the Big Sky, is fantastic.  I'm so proud of them, they ran amazing.  Travis (Floeck) had them ready.
 
"The men ran well as a team, battled well.  I like where we're at, where we're progressing.  I think the teams are ready for NCAA Regionals, right at home in Colfax.  It was just a great day out there, a great day to be a Vandal."
 
The women were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, but showed out on Saturday.  The Vandals did not get a student-athlete in the top-10, but instead used a balanced, team performance to earn second overall.  Freshman Kelsey Swenson led the way in 13^th in 18:53.5.  Kara Story was next in 16^th at 19:03.9, followed by Nathalia Campos and Malaina Thacker in 18^th and 19^th, respectively, just a few seconds back.  Krista Story closed out the scorers for the women in 23^rd with a time of 19:20.3.

Idaho edged out Southern Utah in the end by just three points.  The Thunderbirds entered the weekend ranked seventh in powerful Mountain Region, while the Vandals entered the meet unranked.
 
The men were led by Dwain Stucker in 22^nd with a time of 28:11.0.  Tim Stevens placed 30^th in 28:31.7, and Ryan Kline took 32^nd at 28:33.4.  Drew Schultz was right behind in 33^rd with a time of 28:35.6.  Gabriel Dinnel was Idaho's final scorer, in 36^th at 28:41.8.
 
Northern Arizona won the title on both sides.
 
Next up is the 2019 NCAA Cross Country West Regional in Colfax in two weeks.
 
-