BYRON CENTER, MI – The Norse Cross Country Teams competed in the NJCAA Region XII Championship this past weekend. The Women's Team finished 13 out of 15 teams. The Men's Team saw their lone sophomore put up a personal best time.
Norse Cross Country Coach Scott Carhoun noted his athletes' resiliency heading into the season finale. "The last 3 weeks have been incredibly challenging for our program. We had a few athletes miss significant practice time due to illness, and we also had a few who have been doing their best to manage unexpected injuries."
On the women's side Hattie Cota (Fr, Munising, MI) paced the team with a time of 22:13.8, good enough to finish 32 out of 92 competitors. Veronica Spreitzer (FR, Escanaba, MI) was the next to cross the finish line for the Norse, picking up a time of 24:30.2. Leah Gould (FR, Engadine, MI) was close behind her with a time of 24:48.8. Aleyna Wetthuhn (FR, Gladstone, MI) returned to action this week with a time of 25:26.0, a personal best time for her. Devyn Lusardi rounded out the team score for Bay, recording a time of 27:11.5, which was also a personal best time for her.
St. Clair County Community College won the overall team event with a score of 80. Southwestern Michigan and Lansing Community College rounded out the top three.
On the men's side, Dustin Brewster (FR, Manistique, MI) was the first to cross the finish line for Bay, recording a time of 35:09.9. Brent Lagina (FR, Norway, MI) was not far behind him with a time of 35:46.0. Austin Watchorn (SO, Escanaba, MI) was the highlight of the day on the men's side. With a time of 38:03.8, cutting more than a minute off of his best time from this year, and 16 seconds quicker than his time from a year ago.
"I'm really happy for Austin," said Carhoun. "He has been putting in the work and was able to set a personal best time in the 8k today."
Carhoun then reflected on his teams' efforts for the day, "On paper we didn't turn any heads today, but the grit and the attitude our team displayed in the last few weeks, including today, showed how awesome this group of young men and women really are."
The meet concludes the season for the Norse. Under Carhoun's first year at the helm the Cross Country team saw steady improvement throughout the season. With improved numbers from the previous season, optimism grows for the future as Carhoun will get a full recruiting period to build into the 2024 season.