ESCANABA, MI – The Norse Cross Country Teams are set to kick off their 2019 season. Head Coach Jim Murtha will begin his third season at the helm.
James Young (SO, Gladstone, MI) returns on the Men's side and will be a leader for the group, drawing on his experiences from a year ago. Young was consistently one of the top runners for the Norse throughout the season, and represented Bay College at the NJCAA National Championship in Garden City, KS last season. He averaged a time of 31:32 in his regular season competitions, all 8K lengths. Young was well on his way towards setting a personal goal of a sub 30-minute time, but a late season ankle injury prevented him from achieving that feat. "I thought my season went pretty well," said Young. "I had an overall goal of getting my time under 30 minutes, and I feel as though I would have done it, but my late season injury and getting sick set me back. Overall it was a lot of fun and I made a lot of great memories." James was named the Most Valuable Male Runner last season for the Norse.
Lauren Peters (SO, Munising, MI) brings a year of experience to the team from the women's side as well. As a freshman she showed a marked improvement throughout the season. Her high point of the season came in Appleton, WI. Despite fighting wet and muddy conditions, she would post a 6K time of 30:55, bettering her time from a week before by one minute and forty-three seconds. She would post her best 5K time of the season in the final week, crossing the finish line in 25:08. Lauren was selected by the NJCAA Cross Country Coaches Association as a Scholar All-American, and was apart of the women's team that was honored as being in the top twenty cross country teams in grade point average in the nation.
"We are looking forward to getting the season underway and are anxious to see where we are at," said Coach Murtha. "It will be nice to compete in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and at Northern Michigan."
The Norse Cross Country Team begins their season at Concordia College in Mequon, WI on Saturday, September 7. Their next event will be on September 28 when they travel to the University of Minnesota. On October 12 they make the trip to Appleton, WI to compete in the event hosted by Lawrence University, and finish their regular season at the U.P. Championships hosted by Northern Michigan.
For up-to-date information follow the Norse all season long at www.baynorse.com.