Hawkeye Women Win Dirksen-Greeno Invite

LINCOLN, Neb. – University of Iowa women’s cross country brought home the team title at the Dirksen-Greeno Invite in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday morning. The Hawkeye women edged Nebraska in the 5,000-meter red division race to secure the win by a 38 to 41 advantage. On the men’s side, Iowa finished third as a team in the Division I race with 87 points in the 8,000-meter run.

The Iowa women were led by a trio of Hawkeyes, finishing in a pack. Kelli Tosic, Emma Gordon, and Brooke McKee finished sixth (17:40.3), seventh (17:40.8), and eighth (17:41.7), respectively. Lauren McMahon also cracked the top 10, finishing just a second behind McKee. Miriam Sandeen closed out the scoring for the women, finishing 12^th in 17:54.2. Gabby Skopec (17:56.4) was close behind in 13^th.

The Hawkeye men were led by Nick Trattner and Noah Healy for the second-consecutive event, posting times under 25 minutes. Trattner finished sixth and Healy crossed in eighth, as both secured their second top-10 finishes this season, finishing in 24:34.7 and 24:37.8, respectively. Freshmen Kal Lewis and Ian Geisler were next in 25^th and 26^th with times of 25:34.2 and 25:34.6. Jeff Roberts rounded out scoring for the Hawkeye men with a time of 25:41.5.

Up next, the Hawkeyes head to Columbia, Missouri, to compete at the Gans Creek Invite on Friday, Oct. 1. The men’s 8K guns at 9 a.m. (CT) and the women are slated to follow at 10 a.m. (CT).

Hear From Head Coach Randy Hasenbank…

“I was very excited for our women’s team.  We competed well as a team, and a 13-second gap is impressive.  They knew  what  needed to be done on the course today in order to reach their team goals by the end the season.  Today was a big step in the right direction. Kelli [Tosic], Gabby [Skopec] and Emma [Gordon] are doing a great job with training and racing in regards to bringing our young runners along.  They set the tempo for the team, and they bring calm and confidence. It was also great to see Brooke McKee have a great collegiate opener.  Lauren [McMahon] and Miriam [Sandeen] did a great job as well.”

“On the men’s side, Nick [Trattner] and Noah [Healy] competed very well in their first cross country race in nearly two years.  Our youth and lack of experience showed with the younger runners.  They  have only raced 5K in high school, so 8K is a big jump. We have a talented, young group, we just need a little more seasoning in these long races.”