Mustangs Picked 5th in GPAC Preseason Poll
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Courtney Sporrer didn't pause on Tuesday when asked what her personal goals were for the 2024 cross country season.
The Morningside University junior wants to get back to the NAIA national cross country meet.
She did so last season, placing 242nd in the national field with a time of 24 minutes, 53 seconds. Sporrer was also the top Mustangs runner at the GPAC Championships last November, placing fifth overall.
"I'd like to place high at the GPAC meet and get to the national meet," Sporrer said recently at Fall Sports Media Day. "I'd also like to be an All-American."
The Mustangs' women's team placed fifth at the GPAC meet, putting their Top 4 runners in the Top 50. On Tuesday, the women learned they are fifth in the conference preseason poll with 85 points. Dordt was voted on as the conference favorite with 118 points.
The Mustangs had three Top 3 finishes last season, with their highest coming in the Wayne State Wildcat Classic in mid-September where they finished third. They also were fourth at the Dordt University Sunflower Opener and seventh at the Briar Cliff Invite.
Some other Mustangs to be on the lookout for this season are sophomore Jolee Mesz, Paige Padavich and Sarah Perez.
This season marks the second that the women will run 6,000 meters. Last summer, Wallace said that the runners had to make that mental jump of running an extra 1,000 meters.
"On the mental aspect, they were all shocked," Morningside coach Frank Wallace said. "All the training that they do, it's just a mental aspect of adding in a little bit more."
Sporrer had a good mindset when asked about what it was like to make that new adjustment.
"It's just an extra three or four more minutes of running," the Logan-Magnolia High School graduate said. "We talk a lot about the tools we have and working on mental toughness. We work on mantras to help us keep finishing the race."
The 2024 GPAC Cross Country Championships are Saturday, Nov. 9, in Ashland, Nebraska, at Mahoney State Park.