You may have seen or heard the men’s cross country team singing as they made their way up the Skinner Mall. It’s just the warm-up for the 8-10 miles they run daily. They are looking to stay motivated in order to improve on their outstanding season last year. The Bluejays had their best finish ever at the MVC Championships, finishing fourth.
The freshmen class for the men’s squad is showing to be a powerful force. They represent nine out of the 15 members of the team. Freshman Casey Jergenson, brother of junior Molly Jergenson, said the team set expectations in order to prepare for the upcoming season.
“We want to finish in the top-7 at conference this year,” Casey said.
This is their primary goal, but maintaining a 3.5 GPA as a team is another target they want to hit during the season. The graduate from local cross country powerhouse Millard North relies on his teammates for support.
“Cross country is not so much an individual sport because you depend on your team to push and encourage you every day at practice,” Casey said.
The men’s cross country team finished 18th in the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., last weekend. The women’s team earned 17th out of 25 teams. Both teams placed fourth in the University Division in their respective meets.
Freshman Chris Culhane led the Creighton men for the third consecutive meet. He ran the 8K meet in 27:06 and finished in 51st place out of 324 runners. Culhane was followed by sophomore Jared Dittman and freshmen Stephen VanGampleare, Chris Boitano and Casey Jergenson.
Molly Jergenson led the Creighton women for the third consecutive meet. She finished in 44th place out of 251 runners, running the 6K race in 23:59. The time was a new personal best for Molly, who won her first career meet at the Reiver Run earlier this month in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
“Anytime that happens, it is very exciting. We need to just keep working hard and improving,” head coach John Wissler told gocreighton.com.
He was proud of both teams’ efforts at the meet. The men’s team was picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. The women’s side was tabbed to end up ninth in the conference.