MARQUETTE, MI – The Bay College Norse Cross Country teams tested their skills against the rest of the U.P. on Friday afternoon. The men would have four runners compete, while the women would have a full team score in the U.P. Championships at Northern Michigan University.
Connor Robinson (FR, Powers, MI) was the lead male runner for the Norse on the afternoon, posting a time of 33:07 on the 8K course. Steven Magnuson (SO, Cheboygan, MI) would cut over two minutes off of his time from the week prior in Oshkosh, finishing this week with a time of 34:19. The biggest jump in time from last week to this week came from Devonte Grier (SO, Griffin, GA). He would finish at 35:44, almost five minutes faster than his time on October 13 (40:35). Trent Marenger (FR, Gladstone, MI) continued the positive push for the Norse with a time of 42:43, cutting over a minute and 15 seconds off of his time.
The women would compete at the shorter 5K length for just the second time this season, the other being back on September 22 at home. Zoie Berg (SO, Gladstone, MI) continued her role as the top runner for the Norse, finishing with a time of 21:12. Lauren Cousineau (FR, Escanaba, MI) would lead a tight middle pack for Bay, crossing the finish line at 25:00. Just behind her was Lauren Peters (FR, Munising, MI) at 25:08. Jody Peters (FR, Gladstone, MI) would be the female runner making the big jump in time. Her 25:34 mark this week put her well in front of her time of 27:16 from that race a month ago. Katy Combs (SO, Escanaba, MI) would also see an improvement from that earlier race, finishing with a time of 29:57.
For the second week in a row the Norse would tally a team score, but once again wind up on the bottom of the pack. Two other teams would run enough participants to accumulate a team score, with Michigan Tech leading the way with 27 points. The host team Northern Michigan would just miss the top spot with 31 team points, while Bay College would wind up amassing 85 points.
"We had a couple of disappointed runners today," said Head Coach Jim Murtha. "Zoie [Berg] is battling an ankle injury...by the two mile mark it was going numb. Up to that point she was running the race of her life! She still ended up okay considering all of that. James [Young] had to pull out of the race at the 1.5 mile mark beacuse of an IT band issue. Other than that, everyone else ran well today. The day turne out perfect for running."
The race wraps up the regular season schedule for the Norse.