St. Cloud State Cross Country Outperforms Expectations at NSIC Championships

Saturday, October 26

Souris Valley Golf Course • Minot, N.D.

Noon CT

St. Cloud State

NSIC Championships

Photo by: Sean Arbaut

St. Cloud State Cross Country Outperforms Expectations at NSIC Championships

10/26/2024 7:44:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

Results (Hero's Timing)

All eight Huskies set new personal/season bests, team earns 10th place finish

MINOT, N.D. – St. Cloud State Cross Country raced to a 10^th place team finish at the 2024 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by Minot State at the Souris Valley Golf Course in Minot, N.D. on Saturday afternoon. Seven of the eight runners ran new personal bests, and one ran a new season-best time. The Huskies were picked to finish 14^th in the preseason coaches' poll.

For the second season in a row, senior Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) led the Huskies at the NSIC Championship meet. Kowal finished 50^th after running a new personal best time of 22:56.5. She improved her conference finish from a year ago by 28 places, her season best time from the Roy Griak Invitational by 1:48 and her personal best time from the 2022 NCAA DII Central Region Championships by 30 seconds.

Fellow senior Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.) was second on the Huskies in a new season-best time of 23:10.9. She placed 61^st and ran a 40 second season best, missing out on a new personal best just seven seconds.

Sophomore Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.) and freshmen Abbygail Nunez (South St. Paul, Minn.) and MerriAnna Johnson (Osceola, Wis,) rounded out the Huskies top five with personal best times and top 85 finishes. Donahue was 7^th in 23:26.4, Nunez ran 23:27.0 to place 77^th and Johnson ran 23:40.7, finishing 84^th. Donahue's new personal best was a 1:01 faster than her old best time, while Nunez and Johnson cut off 1:07 seconds and 1:04 off their previous bests that were set a week ago.

Sophomores Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.), Audrey Rabitz (Manitowoc, Wis.) and Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.) also ran to new personal bests in their first conference cross country meet. Michalak (24:07.5, 98^th) trimmed 1:13 off her personal best 6k time, Rabitz (26:06.5, 124^th) cut 53 seconds off her best time and Muehr (26:59.7, 136^th) was 55 seconds faster than her old personal best.

St. Cloud State at the 2024 NSIC Championships (6k)
Oct. 26, 2024 | Souris Valley Golf Course | Minot, N.D.

50. Cambrie Kowal - 22:56.5 PR
61. Greta Freed - 23:10.9 SB
75. Alena Donahue - 23:26.4 PR
77. Abbygail Nunez - 23:27.0 PR
84. MerriAnna Johnson - 23:40.7 PR
98. Tegan Michalak - 24:07.5 PR
124. Audrey Rabitz - 26:06.5 PR
136. Mady Muehr - 26:59.7 PR

Team: 10^th of 15

Results (Hero's Timing)
Results (TFRRS)
Results (PDF)

UP NEXT
The Huskies continue their postseason schedule in two weeks at the NCAA Central Region Championships. The meet will start at 11:15 a.m. CT from the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo. Links to coverage options will be available on the SCSU Cross Country schedule page.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Cross Country, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.