Morningside had the top four finishes en route to winning the team title in the Grand VIew Invitational cross country meet.

Mark Abrams

Morningside’s nationally ranked men’s cross country team repeated as team champion at Friday’s Grand View Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa.

All five of Morningside’s runners that figured in the team scoring finished in the top seven. The Mustangs won with a team score of 17 points for a comfortable 33-point victory margin over NCAA Division I Drake University, which finished second with 50 points.

The Mustangs, ranked 14th in the NAIA Pre-Season Poll, dominated the competition with the top four runners in the field. Mark Abrams finished first with a time of 26:09 over the 8 k course. Jay Welp was second with a time of 26:19, Dan Larscheid was third with a time of 26:40, and Alec DeVries was fourth with a time of 26:42.

Morningside had two other runners finish in the top 10. Sean Skillern was eighth in 27:32 and Jacob Scott was 10th in 27:54. Drew Schiltz just missed the top 10 with the 12th place time of 28:00.

The Mustangs finished third in a seven-team women’s field behind NCAA Division I Drake University and Grand View University.

Allison Higgins had the Mustangs’ top individual performance with a seventh place time of 21:01 over the 5 k course. Michelle Mumm was next with the 12th place time of 21:38.

Morningside will compete in the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 27, in Falcon Heights, Minn.

Men’s Results

Women’s Results