THIS WEEK IN PEACOCKS WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY… Upper Iowa is finally back in action as they will be competing in the GLVC Championships this weekend on Saturday, Oct. 21. UIU will be competing in the GLVC's 40th Annual 6K, which will be held at 9:30 a.m.
REGULAR-SEASON RECAP… The Peacocks started the season with back-to-back 5K races, and have competed in the 6K race in their final two meets. Sophomore Eryn Sabelka ran the fastest time for UIU in both 5K meets, with a season high time of 21:59.8. Upper Iowa's two 6K meets saw them finish in 35th place at the University of Minnesota and 16th place at Wartburg College. Three Peacocks finished with their best times at Minnesota, with Sabelka leading the way with a 116th place finish with a time of 26:48.9. Sophomore Mackenzie Rader and senior Nora Nouhaili's season highs came within eight seconds of each other with Rader finishing with a time of 27:50.9 and Nouhaili with a time of 27:58.9. Rader came in 141st place, while Nouhaili finished in 145th. Seniors Jadyn Schultz and Alaina Sunlin ran their best times at Wartburg, with Schultz running the fastest time for UIU at 27:45.9 which was good for a 199th place finish. Sunlin finished in 244th place with a time of 35:45.3.
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW… This will be Upper Iowa's first season competing in the GLVC Championships. Lewis are the reigning champions, with Southwest Baptist, Indianapolis, Drury, and Truman State rounding out the top five. Drury sophomore Bradley Weimer came in first place with a time of 22:00.92 and was named GLVC Runner of the Year. She followed that performance up with an even faster 6K time at the NCAA Division II Championships, completing the race in 21:41.1. During her junior season Weimer has not competed in any 6K races, and her best 5K time of the season is 18:13.9. Reigning Freshman of the Year Breanna Mathes has had a solid second season for Truman State. Like Weimer, she has not competed in any 6K races this season and she ran her best 5K time in 19:18.7. The GLVC has given out six Runners of the Week awards this season, and three of them have gone to Missouri S&T senior Emma Puetz. She is coming off back-to-back Player of the Week awards, recently finishing 3rd overall in a 94-competitor 5K race. Puetz also ran her career best 5K time of 17:41.21 which is a school record.
