Mick and Williams Qualify for Cross Country Nationals
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information and Zach Kindler, KWU Cross Country

Mick

Williams

Jolene Mick and Sarah Williams qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships on November 18 in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Mick qualified by winning the NAIA Region IV meet with a time of 18:08. Mick is the first KWU runner to win the regional meet on the women’s side. Williams placed third overall and qualified with a personal best time of 18:57. It was her first time breaking the 19-minute barrier this season. 

Mick is currently ranked tenth and Williams is ranked 80th out of all the women runners in the NAIA going into the national meet.  The top 30 finishers at the national meet are named All-Americans.

This wraps up one of the most successful seasons that KWU Women’s Cross Country has ever had, according to Kindler. The Coyotes were KCAC Co-Champions and placed in the top three in every meet excluding Mid-State Classic, where Wesleyan was the top KCAC school. 

“I was very proud of the ladies and how they ran on Saturday but just came up a little short on qualifying the team for nationals,” Kindler said. He also says with most of the team returning for next year, the Coyotes should look to have another stellar season.

“We will lose Nicole Heptig, who will be graduating,” he said. “Her leadership and running abilities will be missed, but with everybody else returning, we should look to have another very successful year and go for that first team ever to qualify for the NAIA national meet.”

Mark Winkel and Tyler Jensen were the top finishers on the men’s side, and continued their very strong second half of the season. They finished in 25th and 27th places but were only a second apart. 

“The entire men’s team ran well and with all of the runners returning next year, we should have a much stronger team,” Kindler said.

“By far this is the most exciting year of cross country I have coached since I have been associated with Kansas Wesleyan,” he said. “I want to thank all the family, friends, and fans for all their support throughout the entire season and now we look forward to the track and field season starting with indoor track in January.”

-- KWU SI --

Complete Women's Results
Complete Men's Results