The Baker University cross country team swept the Maple Leaf Invitational with first place finishes from the men and women’s teams.
“It is the first time that we’ve won both men and women, and that was our goal, to go out and to sweep it, and I’m very excited and very proud of how we did,” head coach Zach Kindler said.
On the men’s side, junior Aaron Caldwell led the Wildcats, placing seventh overall in the 5k run finishing in 16:35.65.<br/>
Junior Eric Larson finished in ninth place and was followed by junior Taylor Nall who placed 13th and senior Chris Scheideman who placed 14th.
“Right now we’re sitting at the top of the conference, and we’re ready to go to nationals,” Caldwell said.
The men won the meet with 53 points, which put the Wildcats seven points ahead of second place Johnson County Community College.
Sophomore Lauren Jaqua placed first overall in the women’s 4k run.
“I’m really excited. It is just the first meet of the year so we still have a ways to go, but it felt great to win at home,” Jaqua said.
Sophomore Ashley McBride and freshman Kerry Kurta followed Jaqua, placing third and fourth, respectively after Park University runner Lindsey McDonald.
Baker Orange staff member Jenna Stanbrough finished seventh and junior Lindsey Brown finished 10th to round out the Wildcats who were in the top 10.
The ’Cats scored 24 points to defeat runner-up Park University by 20 points.
The women’s team is the returning HAAC champions and are hoping to defend and keep that title this year.
“We’re really confident and we’re not taking conference lightly,” Jaqua said. “We’re still going to work really hard toward it and nationals is what we’re looking forward to, too.
Kindler believes the women have a great chance of defending their conference championship this season.
“On the women’s side, we’re kind of in the driver’s seat,” Kindler said. “As a whole, we’re progressing perfectly. We’re doing everything that we want.”
The men’s team also wants to gain a HAAC title this year and has only a few real challenging teams to push past in the conference.
“On the guy’s side, Graceland is in our way,” Kindler said.
Caldwell said that although members of the team place individually during a competition, they really depend on one another to push each other and do the best they possibly can.
“We’re a team sport with individual aspects. We work as a team every day. One of the things I don’t think people realize is that when you get to that fifth mile, it comes down to pure guts and it is our team that has those guts,” Caldwell said. “We all want each other at nationals. We’re in it for each other.”
The Wildcats will not be competing this weekend, but will return to run in the Southern Stampede Sept. 17 in Joplin, Mo.
The race will be the first 5k for the women’s team and the first 8k for the men’s team of the season.
