PELLA, Iowa – Men’s Cross Country

Men’s cross country closed out their 2014 season placing 17th/27th at the NCAA Regional Championships in Pella, Iowa Saturday.

Junior Nick Yaeger led the way for the Simpson men, placing 57th in the heat of 189 runners from colleges around the Central Region. Yaeger finished in 26:42.9.

St. Olaf College’s, Grant Wintheiser finishes first overall with a time of 19:45.8, leading the Oles to a first place finish as a team.

IIAC foe, Loras College was close behind in second, while rival Central College was good enough for third. Luther and Wartburg College also had top ten finishes as the IIAC was strongly represented at the regional.

Other Simpson Finishers:

93rd – Ethan Pellegrino (26:58.8)

94th – Blake Willadsen (26.51.1)

119th – Ian McKenzie (27:42.5)

127th – Andrew Mayes (27:59. 0)

131st – Nathaniel Jomes (28:07.7)

132nd – Miles Kirts (28:08.2)

PELLA, Iowa – Women’s Cross Country

Seven runners made up the final race for the women’s cross country team for the 2014 season. Simpson improved their finish seven spots from last season, moving up to 19th out of 27 teams as the Storm ran against teams from the Central Region, earning the honor as the regions “Most Improved Team”.

Carleton College’s Ruth Steinke finished in first with a time of 21:16.0 as she lead Carleton to a first place finish as a team.

The IIAC’s Wartburg and Luther College finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Five freshmen and sophomores made up Simpson’s seven women squad as Briana McCloskey, the sophomore from Sierra Vista, AZ lead Simpson with a 69th place finish out of the field of 189 runners.

McCloskey moved up 63 places from last year, part of the reason for Simpson’s improvement.

Sadie Timms, who was the female athlete of the month at Simpson for the month of September, came in 100th, capping off a terrific freshman campaign.

Other Finishers for Simpson:

113th – Courtney Neuendorf (24:34.0)

115th – Bree Gaster (24:34.5)

126th – Jessica Gronke (24:50.0)

169th – Lauren Doocy (26: 30.4)

171st – Lesley Roquet (26:34.1)

Women’s cross country will only lose two seniors from this years team in Emily Manning and Lauren Doocy as they head into the off-season looking to build off their youth.