ASHLAND, Neb. — Creighton cross country made the most of a historic opportunity on Oct. 31, hosting the Big East Cross Country Championships for the first time in program history at Mahoney State Park. Against one of the strongest conferences in the nation, both Bluejay squads turned in proud performances. The men finished sixth for their second straight year while the women took seventh, earning their best conference finish in five seasons.
“It was a good day,” head coach Chris Gannon said. “We were new on the guys’ side. We were shooting for that 5-6 spot and came up a little short there, but the guys competed really well … on the ladies’ side, projections had us eighth…, and we were able to snake seventh and miss six by just two points … I know those ladies have left it out there today.”
No. 10 Georgetown captured its sixth consecutive women’s title with 24 points, led by individual champion Melissa Riggins with a time of 19:47.7 , while No. 14 Butler claimed its fourth men’s crown in six years with 26 points behind individual winner William Zegaraksi (23:08.4). No. 14 Villanova took second in the women’s race with 42 points, and No. 30 Georgetown earned runner-up honors on the men’s side.
“It’s unreal,” Gannon said on the competition in the Big East. “That’s what’s kind of really special about being able to host this meet here. Butler’s going to go to nationals in a couple weeks and do something really special and Georgetown on the women’s side as well. It’s really incredible. There will be at least three men’s teams and three women’s teams at the national meet out of this conference.”
The Creighton men competed over the 8K course, led by junior Oliver Annus, who finished 30th overall with a time of 24:33.4 — tied for the fourth-best individual mark by a Bluejay since joining the Big East. Senior Eli Moore followed close behind in 32nd at 24:41.9, while freshman Andrew Sauer (42nd, 25:07.7) and Owen Marett (55th, 25:24.1), along with sophomore Lucas Bossinger (56th, 25:31.1), rounded out the Bluejay scoring five. The team finished sixth out of nine with a score of 191.
The men’s lineup also offered a glimpse of the program’s future, with underclassmen stepping up alongside veteran teammates.
“These freshmen have run well all year,” Gannon said. “And then we’ve had seniors step up and kind of work themselves in there, and that’s been what we needed. With those top three guys, the returners who were all redshirting this fall, we needed our freshmen to run well. We needed those seniors to step up, and that’s exactly what happened. If you would’ve asked me back in July or August about this result, I’d have been really excited about it.”
On the women’s side, racing over the 6K course, freshman Reyna Heisserer led Creighton with a 39th-place finish in 21:31.0, followed closely by seniors Katherine Soule (50th, 21:52.8) and Anika Nettekoven (53rd, 21:56.2), junior Taylor Rorick (54th, 22:00.3) and senior Carly Manchester (56th, 22:03.9). The top five finished within just 33 seconds of each other to earn seventh place out of 11 teams — a testament to the Jays’ tight pack-running strategy that has defined their season.
“That’s exactly what our strength has had to have been with that women’s side,” Gannon said. “We don’t have a low stick. They have run well as a pack all year. And that pack has continued to get tighter and tighter. And as that pack gets tighter, our team’s gotten better, which is exactly what we saw today.”
Beyond the results, Friday’s meet carried special meaning for Creighton. Hosting the conference championship for the first time offered the Bluejays a chance to share how far their program has come and to celebrate it on their own course, surrounded by family, teammates and fans.
“Oh man, [it’s] incredible,” Gannon said. “To host this caliber of a meet here in Omaha at our home course and bring these top national caliber programs in and have them be impressed with our facility, I feel so privileged to be a part of the conference that we are.”
“Big East, especially being here at Mahoney, was really special,” Heisserer added. “My family came all the way from Texas, and I know lots of the girls’ families came too. So just having all the support from the Creighton community and being able to come out here today definitely made an impact when we were running.”
With the Big East Championships now behind them, Creighton turns its focus toward the NCAA Midwest Regional in a couple of weeks. The Bluejays will make the trip to Stillwater, OK, on Nov. 14.