School Records Galore At Aquinas College Meet Last Weekend in Michigan - Coach Niendorf Praises Teams

School Records Galore At Aquinas College Meet Last Weekend (Oct. 26) in Grand Rapids, Michigan - GSU Coach John Niendorf Praises Men's and Women's Cross County Teams -

"The men's team had a big day today. They went up against 23 teams and most were ranked teams or teams receiving votes to be ranked. They proved that they can be competitive in an elite field. The men's 8k team average was 25:54, which shatters the previous team record of 26:22. Almost everyone on the team hit a new personal record. Daniel Zavala ran the race of his life and went through the finish at 25:09 (5:04 mile pace).

Samuel Rocio and Colin O'Brien ran 25:31 and 26:04 respectively. Both runners are true freshman. Omar Mohamed ran a 26:21, securing the fourth position for our team score. John Kajmowicz and Alex Ortiz rounded out the top six with 8k times of 26:22. It was amazing to see personal records from nearly everyone on the team and I am incredibly proud of the way they all went out there and competed. I am so proud of this group and the best part is that they're so young, we are not losing many athletes for next year."

"The women went out there today and ran with a lot of heart. I was so happy for each and every one of them. So many of them were able to get a personal record or close to one. A lot of the women on the team have been battling injury or sickness for the last couple weeks, so I knew it was going to be a tough challenge to race well. We were also down one of our top runners, Kaylee O'Sullivan, so a lot of women had to step up. They did so in a big way. The women's team average for the 5k race ended up being 20:05. That beats the previous record by a significant margin. Krysta Stanko led the women with a 19:37 finish. She was battling sickness the whole two weeks prior, and she battled through it all to come within a couple seconds of her personal record.

Avery Kittl ran a 19:38, beating her previous personal record by 19 seconds. Morgan Pieczynski stepped up huge for us by running a 20:02. I was incredibly happy for her and the way she competed throughout the race. Camila Mendez and Sydney Bonham had huge days for us as well. Camila beat her previous personal record of 21:20 by almost a minute, running a 20:29. Sydney Bonham rounded out the top five with a 20:37, beating her 21:02 pr from last season.

I was so proud of both of them, and they helped the team score tremendously. Overall, I couldn't be happier for these young women. They work so hard and it's nice to see them get some tangible results. The team is young and they're just going to keep improving year after year," said Coach Niendorf.

GSU CC teams prep next for CCAC Championships - Nov. 9, at Bettendorf, Iowa - hosted by St. Ambrose University

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