Morningside women's cross country 'hungry for more'
In preseason camp, coaches Frank Wallace and Garret Ehlers '14 had the team pick one word to define their fall. Their choice: embrace.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — During her final summer as a Morningside student-athlete, senior Courtney Sporrer did something she hadn't done before.
She trained during the summer with a base of 50 miles per week, which should help her push for another national meet bid when the women's cross country season begins Friday at the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls.
"Nationals is in Florida, which is where it was my freshman year, so I'm hoping to place pretty high at the (Great Plains Athletic Conference) meet," Sporrer said.
An all-conference runner, Sporrer placed in the Top 90 at nationals last fall in Columbia, Missouri, climbing 20 spots in the second half of the race. But this year, she doesn't want to be the only Mustang there. She wants her whole team beside her at nationals.
In preseason camp, coaches Frank Wallace and Garret Ehlers '14 had the team pick one word to define their fall. Their choice: embrace.
"The word we came up with was embrace and we just want to embrace running, embrace persistence, just embrace this whole season together," Sporrer said. "We do a lot of team activities during camp and even on our runs, the upperclassmen try to keep conversation going and keep getting to know everyone."
The Mustangs were voted sixth in last month's GPAC preseason poll after a fifth-place team finish at the 2023 conference meet. Their top outing last season was a fourth-place showing at the Sunflower Opener in September at Dordt.
"They are hungry for more," Ehlers said. "They want to embrace every aspect of the year, and I'm excited to see our packs and our chase packs shift and continue to move forward against other people in the conference."
The Mustangs' 13-runner roster features a balance of veterans and fresh faces ready to contribute. In last year's Augie Twilight, London Rogge and Nicole Zuehl were the Nos. 2 and 3 runners then as well as the GPAC meet. Gabby Ryan, who returns as a junior, was the No. 4 runner at the season-ending meet in Ashland, Nebraska.