Megan Zerrer
Sports Editor
The Fighting Scots men’s and women’s cross country teams had a strong finish to their season this past weekend at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Cross Country Championships held at West Ottawa Golf Course in Holland, Mich. The women’s team finished 21st out of 31 teams, and the men had a solid 17th place finish out of 36 teams.
The women’s team was led by two-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference runner Kayla Zboran ’17, who finished with a 6K time of 22:11.14, earning her a 14th-place finish among the 232-competitior field. This run also earned Zboran her first-career all-region certificate. She is the first Fighting Scot runner on the women’s team to earn all-region honors since alumna Erin Plews-Ogan ’13 in 2012.
Ashley Ferguson ’18 finished behind Zboran, with a time of 24:35.6, which earned her the 132nd slot. Emily Reid ’17 followed close behind Ferguson with a time of 24:29.7. Rounding out the runners were Mackenzie Kellar ’18 and Collier Summay ’19 with times of 24:45.7 and 24.51.3 respectively, placing 141st and 145th in the race.
On the men’s side, Jacob Denbeaux ’19 clocked a time of 26:30.8 in the 8K race, tallying a 77th-place finish in the 249-runner field. Close behind was Blake Pecoraro ’17, who earned an 87th place finish with a time of 26:36.9, crossing the finish line just behind a close-knit pack featuring four runners separated by only eight tenths-of-a-second. Jackson Feinknopf ’19 narrowly missed out on a top-100 finish by two seconds. Feinknopf clocked a time of 26:44 to finish 102nd in the field. Other notable mentions for the men were Alex Chabraja ’17 who finished with a time of 27:03.4, and Aedan Pettit ’20 (27:17.3) who rounded out the Fighting Scots’ scorers with 118th- and 128th-place finishes respectively.
When asked about a lesson she would take away from the season, Ferguson said, “It’s so important to identify specific goals. As a team, we knew from the start of this season that we wanted to work with our teammates as one unit during practice and carry that forward in races to knock out the competition, and I think we accomplished that by the end.”
Traditionally, the end of a season is a time for returning athletes to reflect. “We’re going to lose a strong group of seniors next season, but I think the chemistry is still going to be really great next year,” said Ferguson. “This program gives you a lot of flexibility to make your training your own, and so I think it will be up to each individual to decide to make the most of summer training and just have a competitive attitude when we get back in the fall.”
Ferguson expressed a team sentiment of support and admiration for Zboran’s performance at Regionals. “I was ecstatic to see that so many of my teammates and I finished so close together, and I was overjoyed that I never once saw Kayla after leaving the starting line,” said Ferguson.
So when you see any of the cross country team members, please wish them congratulations on their successful season.