The Grinnell College women’s cross country team enjoyed a strong 2010 debut by winning the Central College Dutch Invitational Saturday in Pella.
The Pioneers finished with 52 points, five in front of Iowa Central Community College and 16 ahead of third place Central. Eight teams competed in the event.
Grinnell was sparked by a big pack of runners, being led by Hannah Colter’s ’12 (pictured) eighth-place finish. She toured the 5-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 12 seconds.
Colter was followed closely by Leah Russell ’11 (10th place in 20:14), Meg Rudy ’14 (12th in 20:18) and Sarah Burnell ’14 (13th in 20:21). Maja Gamble ’11 added a 17th-place finish in 20:30, Sasha Dunbar ’13 was 18th in 20:33 and Annie Tempest ’12 was 22nd in 20:58.
The individual champ was Catie Ellingson of Simpson College, who won in 18:44.
On the men’s side, Grinnell – running a planned 6-kilometer threshold run - finished fourth of eight teams. Eight Pioneers finished together in a range of 1.5 seconds.
Grinnell’s top runner was Ethan Heppner ’11, who was 16th with a time of 20:28 over the 6-kilometer course. He was followed by Noah DeLong ’11, Alex Reich ’11 and Ben Tyler ’14 (17th through 19th in 20:29), Erik Figge ’13, Dan Krauss ’12 and Frank Canady ’14 (20th through 22nd in 20:30) and Shyam Deshpande ’11 (23rd in 20:31).
Grinnell finished with 80 points, 12 behind third-place Simpson College. The champ was Iowa Central Community College with 28 points. The overall champ was Tomas Cotter of Iowa Central, who ran 19:45.
Grinnell hosts the annual Les Duke Invitational next Saturday at Oakland Acres Golf Course.
