WARSAW, Ind. -- The Sabercats put it all together just when it mattered most today, as every single runner set a season- or personal-best time at NCCAA Nationals. Shem Abdnour led the efforts with a PR time of 28:27 - good enough for an All-American selection and a program-top-five time in Maranatha Men's Cross Country program history.
Abdnour becomes Maranatha's first cross-country All-American in two years and the first runner to break into the program top five since Jeremy Fopma in 2019. Abdnour edges Cameron Rankin's 2018 time of 28:29, and joins Michael Kluver, Caleb Wagner, Will O'Malley, and Jeremy Fopma as the top five runners in program history.
For the men's race, Bob Jones University (Greenville, S.C.) took home their ninth consecutive NCCAA National Title with a mere 42 points, beating Emmaus University by 30. Ozark Christian's Jedidiah Osgood finished first on the individual level, cutting the tape with a time of 26:27. For the Sabercats, Abdnour was supported with PRs from Andrew Centifanto and Ryan Mayer, while Curtis Fink and Jonathan Knight both ran season-best times to round out the squad.
For the women, Anna Morken and Hannah Hartfelder were the only two runners for the squad, who came up short of the team qualifying time in the 2024 season. Both runners blitzed their season-best times while flirting with their PR times for Maranatha as well. Morken finished 23rd with 22:17 on the clock in the 5K, while Hartfelder punched out with a 43rd-place finish and 24:01. Crown College (St. Bonifacious, Minnesota) won its first-ever Women's Cross Country DII National Title, with their lead runner, Ella Dufault, cutting the tape with a time of 19:13.
"We've had a tough season," said head coach Haly Hendricks. "A lot of returning runners haven't seen the improvement in their times the way they wanted to see; we've had some sickness, some injuries, and many races with less-than-ideal conditions, so it's been a tough year overall for a lot of us. So to come into Nationals and have every runner either run their PR or their season-best is such an awesome way to end the season. To know that each athlete gave all that they had is such an encouragement. Everybody crossed the finish line knowing that, and you can't ask more than that.
"Finishing well encapsulates more than just a good time; it includes the relationships you have with teammates, and it includes, most importantly, who gets the glory when you cross the finish line. I tell the runners before every race, 'remember for Whom you run," so if the runners remember that, they finish well. To finish this way was a perfect end to the season, and I couldn't have asked for anything more from them."
OVERVIEW
- Event: NCCAA National Championships (Warsaw, Indiana)
- Men's Finish: 6th/8 // 149 pts
- First Runner: Shem Abdnour - 8th - 28:27 (8K)
- Women's Finish: Incomplete
- First Runner: Anna Morken - 23rd - 22:17 (5K)
- Host: Bethel University
RESULTS (Men's 8K)
RESULTS (Women's 5K)
*Season-best Time :: #Program Top 10 :: ^PR
NEXT
A full recap of the season will be forthcoming at mbusabercats.com.
