GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Saginaw Valley State University cross country teams competed in the GLIAC Championships on Saturday morning in Grand Rapids. The Cardinal men finished second in the team standings with 50 points. Five student-athletes earned all-conference honors in the 8K race. The women tallied 103 points and placed third. Three athletes finished all-conference.

 

Nicholas McArdle (Ubly, Mich. / Cass City HS) led the men's team with a personal-best of 24 minutes, 10.9 seconds. He finished fourth and made the All-GLIAC First-Team. This marks his second consecutive top ten finish and his first top-five placing.

 

Jacob Walker (Jerome, Mich. / Columbia Central Senior HS) followed McArdle. He placed seventh with a time of 24:24.4. He earned a spot on the First Team All-GLIAC. This is also his second straight top 10 finish and the third time in his career.

 

Corey Bowers (Cedar Springs, Mich. / Cedar Springs HS), Adam Thomas (New Baltimore, Mich. / Anchor Bay HS), and Jack Lobodzinski (Highland, Mich. / Milford HS) earned All-GLIAC Second Team honors for their finishes. Bowers fell just short of first-team standing with a time of 24:45.90, finishing 12th overall (11th in team scoring). Thomas placed 17th (13th in team scoring) to join Bowers on the all-conference second team, running 24:58.40, a PR for him. Lobodzinski was the final all-league finisher with his 19th-best and PR of 25:03.50 (15th in team scoring).

 

Isaac Tanis and Justin Roose (Fraser, Mich. / Fraser HS) were the final team scorers for the Cardinal men. Tanis crossed the finish line in 25:21.50 to finish just outside All-GLIAC scoring in 21st. Roose fell just behind Tanis in 22nd for team scoring. Both runners set PRs in the championship race.

 

The trio of Karissa Picard (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS), Jenna Sweeney (Reese, Mich. / Reese HS), and Alexis Tracy (Brethren, Mich. / Brethren HS) led things on the women's side with All-GLIAC second team showings. Picard finished 18th overall (14th in team scoring) in 21:42.8. Sweeney placed 21st, setting a new PR of 21:51.2 and finishing 16th in team scoring. Tracy was the final women's student-athlete to claim second team All-GLIAC honors with her time of 22:00.4 for 24th overall and 19th in team scoring.

 

Isabelle Becker (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) was 29th with a new PR of 22:16.6 (24th in team scoring). Tara Szuper (Carleton, Mich. / Airport HS) set a PR with her finish of 22:24.00. She was 30th in team scoring. Kinsie Jacques (Pinconning, Mich. / Pinconning HS) and Bailey Schmoldt (Slinger HS) rounded out the seven scoring times for SVSU. Jacques set a PR with her time of 22:41.40 to place 44th (38th in team scoring), while Schmoldt claimed 46th (40th in team scoring) with a time of 22:41.90.

 

UP NEXT: The Cardinal cross country team will head back to Kenosha, Wisconsin, for the second time this season for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, November 8. Those results will determine qualification for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships at the end of November in the same spot (Kenosha, Wis.).