Three among individual top 125 guide Mustangs at NAIA Championships
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Putting the wraps on a strong 2020 campaign, the trio seniors Emalee Fundermann (SR/Anthon, Iowa) (Anthon, Iowa) and Connor Ritz (SR/Sioux City, Iowa) (Sioux City, Iowa) and junior Jo McKibben (JR/Mapleton, Iowa) (Mapleton, Iowa) headlined Morningside College's results at the 2020 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Championships Friday, April 9.
Fundermann, traversing the Seminole Valley racecourse on a cool and chilly late east-central Iowa morning, crossed the finish line in a national meet career personal best 75th-place mark (19:15.04). McKibben, a fellow upperclasswoman, was next in line for head coach Dave Nash's women's squad, registering a 121st place effort (19:45.65), suitable for a career PR national placing. The Maroon managed to forge a 637-point team total competing against the country's top programs to wind up 27th on the final standings behind those two races.
Morningside's men were represented by Ritz, who made his third national meet appearance. He made the most of it, earning a career personal best championships finish (119th – 26:26.16) over the 8K course layout.