Panthers CC Teams Finish the Season Strong

Written and media by Jaylen Shelton.


 On November 10th in Rock Island Illinois, Greenville University’s Men and Women Cross Country Teams ran at the Midwest Regionals that was hosted by Augustan College. The Midwest region is one of the most competitive regions in all of Division 3. Going into the meet there wasn’t a single man in Division 3 cross country that broke 24 minutes in an 8000m race. On this day 12 men broke 24 minutes, which means that they are the top 12 times in all of Division 3 right now. At the regional meet, teams can only run the top seven runners. The Panthers competed well with the men meeting their goal of breaking the top 20 teams with a 17th place finish as a team. The women’s team finished 27th overall and beat all other teams that are in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). Out of the 14 runners that the Panthers had, six of them got personal best.

Men’s Team

The men’s team after the race. Source: Jaylen Shelton

The men’s team finished 17th overall as a team. Greenville was led by Junior John Mangold who ran a time of 25:06, which was one second off of making the top 10 fastest times in Greenville history. Mangold finished 64th overall in a field of 254 runners, senior Jaylen Shelton finished second for Greenville, and 77th overall with a time of 25:22. Shelton was followed closely by another senior, Nathan Potts, who finished 82nd overall with a time of 25:26. Sophomore Dylan Goodyear was Greenville’s fourth runner and finished 96th with a time of 25:38. Collin Kessingera freshman, rounded out Greenville’s top five with a time of 27:05 and was closely followed by sophomore Noah Dir who finished with a time 27:07. Dylon Niswonger ended Greenville’s scoring and finished with a time of 27:15. Five out of the seven runners had personal best which were, Mangold, Shelton, Potts, Goodyear, and Dir.

Women’s Team
Shirley Estes charging on. Source: Jaylen Shelton

The women’s team finished 27th overall and beat every team that is in the SLIAC. The women’s team was led by senior Lia Kruse who finished 66th overall and ran a time of 22:35 which is a 20 seconds improvement on her personal best. Kruse’s time was the 8th fastest time ever in Greenville Women’s Cross Country history. Brooke Goodyear, a fellow senior, finished second for Greenville with a time of 23:54, which is a seasonal best for her. Junior Shirley Estes was Greenville’s third runner with a time of 24:06. Senior Megan McKee finished fourth for Greenville and ran a time of 24:13. Emily Hasselbusch was Greenville’s sixth runner and finished with a time of 25:13, and Kori Nesbit was finished out Greenville’s scoring with a time of 25:35. 

As the season ends and the seniors ran their last cross country race, the team was all smiles after the race. The Panthers finished the season strong as Coach Patton said, “at the beginning of the season I thought that we were faster than what we were actually running. We had to deal with the heat and didn’t have our first race of the weather being under 70 degrees until conference and regionals where we ran out of our minds.” With cross country season over the Panthers turn their focus onto track & field.  After how they have been running these last few meets, the distance team (cross country) will be charging into the upcoming track season.
Here’s an interview with coach Brian Patton

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