A-R-C Championships on weekend docket for Storm runners

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Simpson men's and women's cross country teams will lace up for the final time this fall with the American Rivers Conference Championships taking place this Saturday, hosted at Central College.

"This year has been an absolute blast," said head coach Heath Moenck. "We're excited for one more opportunity to race as we head into the conference championships as both of our teams have performed well all season."

After competing in only triangular meets through the first four events this season, the Storm will take on the other eight league teams this weekend. Action begins at 2 p.m. for the women and the men will race at 3 p.m. in Pella.

The men carded a sixth-place performance at last year's championships and are aiming to crack the top-four finishers for the first time since 2008. The women recorded eighth in 2019.

The Simpson men have only lost to two teams this fall, Wartburg and Loras, which was only a one-point defeat to the Duhawks. The women have finished second in three meets this season.

Spencer Moon has led the Storm in each race by finishing first overall in three meets and fourth during the Dan Huston Invitational. In his final season with the program, Harry Dudley has made strong strides to finish second within the squad standings in each meet.

Noah Nelsen has been a consistent finisher near the top for Simpson in his second year with the team with three, third-place marks. Eric Baldus, Shane Breheny, Seth Nostrala, Ryan Courtney and Andrew Klein will look to add to the team point total as well.

"Our men have run at a high level all season only losing to two conference schools," Moenck said. "We know if we want to continue that success this weekend, we will have to run our best. Our conference is as deep as I can ever recall and we're thrilled to be in the hunt for a top-three finish."

For the women, Cat Lucht and Lara Kallem have split first-place performances within the team standings, as Kallem received both marks over the last two races. Freshmen Macie Bopp, Ashley Rockhold and Kaya Young are having stellar first seasons after earning at least one top-three finish for Simpson this fall.

"Our women have shown terrific growth from a year ago and I'm looking forward to watching that continue at the conference meet," said Moenck. "If we perform the way we have all season, we hope we can move up a few spots from last year's conference championship result."

For information in regards to the spectator policy and directions to the Central College Cross Country Course, click HERE.