Helena, Mont. – The No. 22 Women's Cross Country and RV Men's Cross Country Saints travel to their biggest meet of the season for the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge on Saturday October 24 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

The Saints will race 18 competitors in Michigan - 10 women and 8 men. Both the men and women bring a mix of returners and newcomers to the regional meet. On the men's side, Oliver Morris, Luke Decker, and Conrad Schruth are veterans of the race. For the women, Isabelle Ruff, Jayna Boonstra, Nikki Nau, Ryah O'Dell, and Ariel Brewer have competed in Michigan before.

 

The women's race will include 14 NAIA teams ranked in the Top 25 or Receiving Votes while the men's race will include 13. Frontier Conference foes Rocky Mountain College and Montana Tech will also attend the meet. Rocky is ranked No. 21 for the men. Nine NAIA conferences will be represented at the meet with the neighboring Cascade Conference sending College of Idaho for the first time with their No.3 ranked men and No. 2 ranked women.

 

Weather is expected to be cooler than the last few races for the Saints. Fast times are often typical due to the lower altitude, long straightaways, and strong competition at the meet. 

 

"This is always one of our favorite races of the season because of the great atmosphere and National level fields," said Head Coach Shannon Flynn. "We're really excited about where our culture and belief are at this fall, and we're looking forward to seeing how our fitness has progressed over the last three weeks since racing," she added.

 

The men's 8k race will start at 10:00 am Eastern Time at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids with the women's 5k race at 11:00 am Eastern.

 

Live results will be available at this LINK.

 

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