Men's Cross Country | 11/03/23 | 11:39 PM

Great Falls, Mont. – The Carroll Cross Country women won their 4th consecutive championship and the men their 3rd championship in a row at the Frontier Conference Meet.

In a tight men's 8k race, the Saints surpassed second place Montana Tech 38 points to 41 points. For the women's 6k race, the Saints beat second place Montana Tech 36 points to 45 points. The wins for the Saints earn each team an automatic berth to the NAIA National Cross Country Championships.

Carroll placed four runners in the Top 10 for the men and three runners in the Top 10 for the women, earning those individuals All-Conference honors. For the men, Zack Gacnik (4th), Connor O'Hara (5th), Brycen Gardner (6th), and Zach Rector (9th) were the highest placers for the Saints. In the women's race, Isabelle Ruff (3rd), Anna Terry (5th), and Hannah Sempf (7th) were the top Carroll scorers. 

James Normandeau rounded out the scoring five for the Saints in 14th. Freshman Luke Decker had a stellar day, placing 16th and running a personal record despite windy conditions. Oliver Morris also ran a lifetime best for 8k. The Carroll women had a tight pack working well together and finishing within three seconds of each other in 11th-13th in Jenna Castro, Nicole Morgen, and Erika Arthur.

Gacnik and Morgen were selected as Champions of Character for the Saints. Head Coach Shannon Flynn was chosen as Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's teams.

"Our conference has continued to increase in its competitiveness, so it was really fun to see both of our teams step up on the big day," Flynn said. "We talked a lot about staying true to our identity and process, and I felt we stuck together and executed that. These athletes put in a tremendous amount of work to reach this point, so it's nice to be able to put the efforts on display and celebrate with a great team accomplishment," she added.

The Saints will compete at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Wash. on Friday November 17.

Full results are available at the following link:

https://competitivetiming.com/frontier

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