Two Pioneers named cross country All-Americans
Winneconne, Wis. – The Pioneers tackled the course at Lake Breeze Golf Club during the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. A light wind and cool temperatures provided a racing environment familiar to the Pioneers.
Four Pioneers ran in the championships, three returning to the meet after running in the 2017 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships. Two Pioneers were named All-Americans by the coaches' association, USATFCCCA.
Senior Katie Wardinski finished in 71st place out of 279 runners. Wardinski battled to the finish line with a season best time of 22:21.1. From 2017 where she placed 99th, Wardinski improved her finishing place by an incredible 28 runners.
Senior Johanna Meister also ran a season best time, crossing in 22:31.4 for the 6,000m race. Meister crossed the finish in 96th place, 13 places improved from the 2017 championships.
In the men's 8,000m race, senior Zach Lee finished in 9th place and Zach Klokow finished in 22nd place out of 280 runners. As a result of placing within the top 40 runners, both Lee and Klokow were honored with All-American awards by the USATFCCCA. This is the second time Lee acheived All-American status with the USATFCCCA, first time as an NCAA All-American placing within the top 15.
Despite a restart due to a fallen runner within the first 100m of the race, Lee and Klokow ran an aggressive and progressive race from line to line. Lee finished with a time of 24:42.4. In 2017, Lee finished in 30th place.
Making his cross country nationals debut, Klokow ran a personal best time of 24:52.5 dipping below 25 minutes for the first time. Klokow dropped over 15 seconds from his previous personal best time of 25:07.7, which he ran at the Midwest Region Cross Country Championships.
The Pioneers concluded the 2018 cross country season at the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships hungry for the indoor track and field season.
