Junior Cat Lucht. Photo provided by Central Sports Information Department

Posted: Nov 07, 2020

Storm women finish sixth at A-R-C Championships

PELLA, Iowa -- Junior Cat Lucht fell one place shy of earning all-conference honors as the Simpson women's cross country team finished sixth at the American Rivers Conference Championships on Saturday.

The Storm ended two spots higher than last year's performance with 138 points. Wartburg, Loras and Nebraska Wesleyan finished one, two, three, while Luther and Buena Vista closed out the top five, respectively.

"The women ran their best race of the season today," said head coach Heath Moenck. "The growth from last year to this year has been remarkable and exciting to watch. Moving up two spots is a great accomplishment."

After finishing 66th at last year's championships, Lucht ran a 24:15.29 to miss out by one spot to become Simpson's first all-league runner since 2017. Freshmen Lara Kallem and Kaya Young closed out their rookie campaigns by earning second and third on the team, respectively.

"Cat's performance was awesome by moving up 50 spots in one year," Moenck said. "Lara battled a sore leg and was huge for us as well. I'm excited for the future of our women's program and thankful I'm able to coach them."

Junior Katie Murano ran her best race this fall to end fourth on the team, while Macie Bopp crossed the finish four seconds after her teammate. Junior Sophie Hall was a place behind Bopp and freshman Ashley Rockhold capped off the top seven for Simpson.

The Storm are set to return all 10 of their top runners from the championships next season as Emily Buchheit is the lone senior.

The @SimpsonXC women ended sixth at the @AmerRiversConf Championships on Saturday to finish two spots ahead of last year's performance.

Cat Lucht crossed the finish in 16th to fall one spot short of earning all-conference honors.#ONESimpson | #rollriversXC pic.twitter.com/ZpU1Zy9WTT
— Simpson Storm Sports (@StormSports) November 7, 2020