Two CC Runners Qualify for NY

The BC Cross Country team competed in ideal running conditions Saturday at the Southwestern Mid States NAIA Invitational (Winfield, Kans.). Competing against 22 teams, the Bears ran seasons’ best times on the fast and grassy trails.

Although the start of the women’s race was delayed by 45 minutes, junior Katy Vanderploeg (Haviland, Kans.) remained focused and bested her 5k time by over a minute, finishing 130th at 24:10. This was under the national qualifying time for NCCAA Division II, a goal that Katy has had all season, and her last opportunity to make the mark.

Freshman Noah Camp (Winfield, Kans.) ran a national qualifying time as well with a 29:47. He also finished nearly a minute faster than his best 8k time this season. Camp has posted a top ten 8k national time for most of the season and looks to make some noise at the national meet in mid-November.

20151024_113456Both runners and coach will be headed to upstate New York on November 12th and will compete at Houghton College (Houghton, NY) on the 14th to conclude the season. As of last week, Vanderploeg was ranked 23rd and Camp 10th nationally. With three weeks of training left, these two look to set new goals in preparation to compete against the very best in the country.