FAYETTE, IOWA - Upper Iowa women's cross country travels to Decorah on Saturday to race in the 52nd All-American Invitational at Luther College XC Course. Nate Rucker enters his 14th season as the Peacocks' head women's cross country coach.
MEET THE PEACOCKS: RETURNERS
UIU returns senior Eryn Sabelka and junior Rio Johnson. Sabelka returns after leading the team last year with the team's fastest 5K time of 22:47.0 at the All-American Invitational and the top 6K time of 26:59.7 at the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championship.
"She's been running for four years," Rucker said. "Hoping for a good year as she closes out her college campaign. She expects herself to lead the team. She's been doing a good job so far. Leadership-wise and practice-wise, she has looked really good."
Last season, Johnson recorded her best 5K performance at the Sauk Valley Skyhawk Invitational, finishing in 29:46.0. She posted her top 6K time of 35:54.6 at the GLVC Cross Country Championships.
"She's back for a second year and ran for the first time last year," Rucker said. "She came over from wrestling and helped us out. She wanted to keep doing it, so I'm hoping that she can make some strides."
MEET THE PEACOCKS: NEWCOMERS
The Peacocks have a total of three newcomers. Transfer Katie Kraft, freshman Cheyanna Thompson-Williams and Lisbeth Trinidad-Valerio.
"Freshman, Trinidad-Valerio from North Fayette Valley is showing some decent stuff early in practice. Thompson-Williams from Cedar Rapids-Jefferson High School is looking strong… and Katie Kraft, a transfer from Southern New Hampshire, is looking like a good training partner for Eryn."
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE:
Following this weekend's 52nd All-American Invitational, UIU will travel to Northfield, Minnesota, for the St. Olaf Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 9 a.m. The Peacocks will then compete in the Sauk Valley (Ill.) Skyhawk Invitational on Oct. 4, followed by the Trojan Invitational hosted by Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) on Oct. 11. The season will conclude at the GLVC Cross Country Championships in Romeoville, Illinois, on Oct. 25.
"This weekend is always a good way to start the season," Rucker said. "Kind of a low-key meet on the college side. They host a big high school meet, so definitely a great recruiting opportunity for us up there."
Coach Rucker is excited about what the rest of the schedule has to bring.
"Next week we go to St. Olaf. A little bit bigger meet, some decent competition. Then have a week off before going to Sauk Valley Community College, and then finish up in Missouri. Again, another low-key meet before heading into the conference towards the end of October in Romeoville, Illinois.
But just looking for solid performances this week, something we can build off of moving forward. Hopefully, we can finish out the season strong at conference and maybe beat a team or two that were picked ahead of us."
