UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The University of Iowa cross country teams competed at the Big Ten Championships on Friday morning at the Blue/White Golf Course in University Park, Pa. The Hawkeye men finished 11th in the 5.2-mile team race, and the women finished 12th in the 6K race, enduring unfavorable weather throughout the morning.
No. 10 Wisconsin captured the men’s title and sixth-ranked Minnesota came away with the women’s trophy.
Sophomore Nick Trattner led the Hawkeyes for the fourth time in five races this season, finishing 42nd (25:54) in a competitive Big Ten field. Freshman Kal Lewis was next in for Iowa (54th) with senior Noah Healy close behind (59th). Freshman Isaac Hartman (89th) and senior Konner Sommer (91st) became the seventh and eighth Hawkeyes to score points this season, rounding out the top five.
On the women’s side, freshmen Brooke McKee (21:53) and Lauren McMahon (21:56) led the way, finishing 52nd and 58th, respectively. Next in for Iowa was senior Jessica McKee (63rd). Freshman Miriam Sandeen (64th) and junior Gabby Skopec (86th) rounded out the scoring for the Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes will be back in action in Iowa City on Nov. 12 at the Ashton Cross Country Course, as Iowa hosts the NCAA Midwest Regional. Races are set to begin at 11 a.m.
Hear From Head Coach Randy Hasenbank
“Obviously, disappointing team finishes today. On the women’s side, I think we made a tactical error at the start of the race with a couple runners, and that caused us to be playing catch up the entire way. I was happy with our three freshmen, beginning with Brooke McKee. She had a great start and showed a lot of confidence and established a good rhythm early in the race. Lauren [McMahon] and Miriam [Sandeen] also put together very good races. I thought Jessica McKee showed some toughness and took those two freshmen with her in the middle of the race. The challenge for us is to develop these young runners into athletes who can perform in the top-30 in this meet. Without a couple of low sticks, it will be difficult to put together a competitive team score.”
“With the men, Noah and Nick came out well early and established themselves in the top-30. They weren’t quite able to hang on to top-30 finishes, and just like the women’s squad, we didn’t have any low sticks to get us started in the scoring. We did not run well as a unit and we again had a big gap between our third runner and our fourth, fifth and sixth runners. I thought Kal Lewis ran a good race. He is still learning how to run these longer races, but I do like his leadership and confidence on race days. Overall, the gaps really costed us. There is zero margin for error in this league.”
Hawkeye Results
Men: 11th / 295 points
42. Nick Trattner (25:54.3)
54. Kal Lewis (26:11.3)
59. Noah Healy (26:16.8)
89. Isaac Hartman (27:21.2)
91. Konnor Sommer (27:24.3)
92. Aidan King (27:27.4)
93. Jack Pendergast (27:29.7)
97. Jeff Roberts (27:49.1)
101. Ian Geisler (28:01.0)
Women: 12th / 300 points
52. Brooke McKee (21:53.7)
58. Lauren McMahon (21:56.1)
63. Jessica McKee (22:03.4)
64. Miriam Sandeen (22:04.4)
86. Gabby Skopec (22:39.8)
100. Amber Aesoph (23:13.4)
106. Emma Gordon (23:25.3)
112. Wren Renquist (23:43.7)
117. Maddie Block (24:08.0)