CRETE, Neb. -- The Creighton women's cross country team finished fourth at the Dean White Invitational cross country meet on Satruday in Crete, Neb. Only four runners from the men's team competed in the race, so the team was not eligible to record a score. There were six teams in the women's race. Morningside College won the meet hosted by Doane College.
Sophomore Ally Lynn was Creighton's top finisher on the women's side. She finished in 12th place with a time of 20:31 on the 5,000 meter course. The time was Lynn's fastest ever on a 5,000 meter course. The individual champion was Kara Nelson from Morningside who finished with a time of 18:57.
In addition to Lynn's personal record, every Creighton woman who competed in the race bested her 5,000-meter time from three weeks ago at the Creighton/UNO Invitational, the only other event this year that the Jays have raced a 5,000 meter course. Freshman Anastasia Schmaltz was the Bluejays' second-best finisher. She ran the course in 21:08 and finished 19th in her collegiate cross country debut. Just behing Schmaltz were juniors Carleen O'Brien and Ashley Altrichter who finished 21st and 22nd. Their times were 21:12 and 21:14 respectively. Rounding out the scoring for Creighton was freshman Izzy Squires. She finished 25th with a time of 21:54. There were 64 total runners in the women's race.
Of the four Jays in the men's race, freshman Colin McDonald was the first to cross the finish line. His time of 28:52 put him in 35th place and was his best ever 8,000 meter time by 13 seconds. The winner of the men's race was Eric Rassmussen from the Doane Alumni squad who ran the course in 26:06.
Sophomore Chris Boitano was the next Creighton finisher. He finished 38th with a time of 29:14. Junior Liam Dawson and freshman Trent Rogers were the final two members of Creighton's team who competed in the race. They finished 48th (29:57) and 59th (30:49) respectively.
Both the men's and women's teams are back in action next weekend as they travel to South Bend, Ind., for the adidas Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational on Friday.
