Summer tone set up success for Mustangs

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Throughout the season, the Morningside women's cross country team knew what the goal was — qualifying for nationals as a team. The hard part, according to its team captain, came in the summer.

The Mustangs will compete for the first time as a team since 2020 at the NAIA National Championship Meet at 7:30 a.m. (Siouxland time) Friday in Tallahassee, Florida. They received an at-large bid after placing second earlier this month at the Great Plains Athletic Conference Meet in Ashland, Nebraska.

Before every summer practice, senior Courtney Sporrer and her teammates reminded one another that nationals wasn't out of reach — even after being picked sixth in the preseason poll. Coaches liked the response and turned up the intensity of summer workouts around Sioux City, setting the tone for a memorable fall.

"We showed up to all our practices," Sporrer said. "Going into those workouts, we knew what the goals were. To achieve them, it started in the summer."

The other runners who will be competing on Friday (in alphabetical order) are: freshman Breyer Anderson, freshman Stefi Beisswenger, junior London Rogge, junior Gabby Ryan, freshman Madison Sporrer, and senior Nicole Zuehl.

"It's been a lot of fun to see the big improvements in them and to build that confidence and competency of trusting that they can go out there and compete at a big level," Mustangs assistant cross country coach Garret Ehlers said. "We have had this big dream as a team, and a lot of these freshmen stepped into a dream that was already in motion and I think did a phenomenal job of embracing that."

At the GPAC meet, all five Mustang scorers posted 25 points or fewer, including three under 15. Courtney Sporrer led the way with seven points, earning All-GPAC honors for the fourth time. Ryan scored 14, Beisswenger 15, Madison Sporrer 20, and Rogge 26. The goal, Ehlers noted, was simple: finish high, regardless of time.

"It became about keeping our packs in front of other teams and staying in the right positions," Ehlers said. "The conference meet is small enough that nothing is hidden — you can see every pack and know what spots we need to fight for to move up."

After Courtney finished, she waited for her teammates near the finish line, knowing that the pack was toward the front of the field, the four-time national qualifier started to believe she wouldn't be traveling alone.

"I've always been in just the individual box and having our own team box is just going to be really special," she said.

When Sporrer qualified for nationals, Rogge went as a practice buddy and a spectator. This time, she's competing.

"I think it's definitely going to be a lot different," Rogge said. "The course is beautiful, so I'm really excited to experience it as an actual runner, but it's definitely going to be a lot different than as a spectator and I'm excited to work on that journey."

Morningside opened the season with 10th- and 11th-place finishes at the Augustana Twilight and the Greeno/Dirksen Invite — solid early tests that helped the younger runners adjust to the jump from high school to college competition.

Then, in October, the Mustangs finished fourth at Briar Cliff, seventh at Dordt, and 10th at Mahoney State Park during Doane's home meet.

"I think our actual magic was our Nos. 2, 3, 4 being oftentimes within 10 seconds of each other and around where other people's runners were," Ehlers said. "I think it really helped to push us farther in front and then having a strong chase pack as well in that 5, 6, 7 where they were floating in and scoring in some meets was huge."