Friday, September 1
Iowa City, Iowa (Ashton CC Course)
6:00 PM
Creighton University
at
Hawkeye Invitational (4K)
Danielle Hotalling
Photo by: Darren Miller
Cross Country Teams Open Fall Season With Top-Three Finishes at Hawkeye Invitational
9/1/2023 10:19:00 PM | Men's Cross Country / Track, Women's Cross Country / Track
Bluejays finish second in men's race, third in women's race
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Creighton cross country teams opened the season on Friday at the Hawkeye Invitational, with the men placing second and the women finishing third.
Marcos Gonzalez opened his senior season with a fourth-place finish in the men's race, one of three Bluejays in the top-10 and one of seven in the top-20. The Phoenix, Ariz., product ran the 6K Ashton Cross Country Course in a time of 18:13.4, finishing 16 seconds behind race champion Max Murphy (17:57.3) of Iowa.
Freshman Evan Kraus made his Bluejay debut a memorable one, taking seventh with a time of 18:19.7. Junior Jake Ziebarth (18:26.9) and freshman Tommy Murray (18:29.1) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, while Ryan Montera closed out the CU scoring in 14th place after a time of 18:36.1.
Iowa won the five-team men's race with a score of 17, owning five of the top six runners. Creighton was in second with 46 points, well ahead of third-place Illinois State's 92 points. The men's race included 67 competitors.
After redshirting last season, Danielle Hotalling returned to form with a second-place finish in the women's race. She traveled the 4K course in a time of 14:11.2 and has now been CU's top performer in all 22 cross country races of her career. Her runner-up finish was 8.6 seconds behind champion Claire Fuhlhage (14:02.6) of Illinois State.
Senior Morgan Koca (14:46.6) and sophomore Katherine Soule (14:55.9) placed 14th and 17th, respectively, while sophomore Carly Manchester (19th, 15:03.2), Siobhan Stoll (21st, 15:08.8), sophomore Molly Rogers (22nd, 15:16.7) and Caroline Colburn (24th; 15:19.5) also finished in the top-25.
Illinois State won the four-team women's race with 28 points, just ahead of race host Iowa (37). Creighton had 73 points to finish ahead of Truman State's 112.
"It was a solid start to the year," said head coach Chris Gannon. "Both squads got out and competed well. Great to have Danielle back and healthy. We had some ladies do a fantastic job of stepping up from where we were a year ago. The men ran strong and had a solid spread. The entire scoring group ran really well, four under 18:30 is a great place to be for the first meet of the season."
Both teams return to the course on Sept. 16 with the Greeno/Dirksen Invite in Lincoln, Neb.
Marcos Gonzalez opened his senior season with a fourth-place finish in the men's race, one of three Bluejays in the top-10 and one of seven in the top-20. The Phoenix, Ariz., product ran the 6K Ashton Cross Country Course in a time of 18:13.4, finishing 16 seconds behind race champion Max Murphy (17:57.3) of Iowa.
Freshman Evan Kraus made his Bluejay debut a memorable one, taking seventh with a time of 18:19.7. Junior Jake Ziebarth (18:26.9) and freshman Tommy Murray (18:29.1) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, while Ryan Montera closed out the CU scoring in 14th place after a time of 18:36.1.
Iowa won the five-team men's race with a score of 17, owning five of the top six runners. Creighton was in second with 46 points, well ahead of third-place Illinois State's 92 points. The men's race included 67 competitors.
After redshirting last season, Danielle Hotalling returned to form with a second-place finish in the women's race. She traveled the 4K course in a time of 14:11.2 and has now been CU's top performer in all 22 cross country races of her career. Her runner-up finish was 8.6 seconds behind champion Claire Fuhlhage (14:02.6) of Illinois State.
Senior Morgan Koca (14:46.6) and sophomore Katherine Soule (14:55.9) placed 14th and 17th, respectively, while sophomore Carly Manchester (19th, 15:03.2), Siobhan Stoll (21st, 15:08.8), sophomore Molly Rogers (22nd, 15:16.7) and Caroline Colburn (24th; 15:19.5) also finished in the top-25.
Illinois State won the four-team women's race with 28 points, just ahead of race host Iowa (37). Creighton had 73 points to finish ahead of Truman State's 112.
"It was a solid start to the year," said head coach Chris Gannon. "Both squads got out and competed well. Great to have Danielle back and healthy. We had some ladies do a fantastic job of stepping up from where we were a year ago. The men ran strong and had a solid spread. The entire scoring group ran really well, four under 18:30 is a great place to be for the first meet of the season."
Both teams return to the course on Sept. 16 with the Greeno/Dirksen Invite in Lincoln, Neb.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
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