The 2019 season for both BVU Cross Country teams was highlighted with various high profile races and personal bests. While other bigger programs had the spotlight on them, this season provided proof that BVU can hang with the bigger teams in the region.

With the NCAA Division III Cross Country regional championships happening this weekend, November 16th, we look back at the 2019 cross country season for both the men’s and women’s teams and how they have continued to push themselves against all odds.

The men started off their season with a good look placing 5th in their first meet, the Bill Buxton Invite at Simpson College. Sophomore Greg Tystahl finished 17th with a time of 20:40.3 providing the Beavers with their top spot of that meet. Junior Cameron Kaltchnee was just behind Tystahl at 21st place with a time of 21:14.1, and Freshman Jon Flaws rounded out the Beavers in the top 30 with a 26th place finish at 21:25.5.

At that meet, Simpson took first place with a team score of 26. Despite the point difference, Grand View came in second with 90 points, unattached Simpson alumni took home a 3rd place team finish with 91 points, Bellevue finished just ahead of BVU with 111 points, and Graceland, Southwestern CC, and William Penn fell behind BVU to round out the top 8.

The men’s team continued to push themselves into the spotlight during the John Huston invite, which included 300 runners. No BVU runner placed outside of 200th place. Tystahl ran the best time for the Beavers, running a 29:26.1 good for a 140th place finish. The Beavers also posted personal best times in the Trent Smith Invite in Mason City, right before the ARC Championship. Tystahl, again, finished with a new personal best 27:38, one of the five who set new personal records at this meet. The Beavers finished in 9th place out of 13th, in a race that featured Minnesota State University Mankato, University of Minnesota Duluth, and Concordia University, who saw their runner, Benjamin Allen, win the meet with a time of 26:15.58.

The women, on the other hand, out-paced the men with an overall 3rd place finish at the Bill Buxton Invite. Simpson still took home first place with a team score of 35, Graceland took home second with 65 points, and BVU finished strong with a third place finish with 79 points. Junior Emily Hoesing and Freshman Qiana Roderick finished first and second respectively. Hoesing finished with a time of 16:42.4 and Roderick was close behind her with a time of 16:47.2.

Other Beavers who placed included Sophomore Wren Klump who finished 18th with a time of 17:59.7, Freshman Jayden Forbes finishing 27th, and Sophomore Latrice Hodges finishing 31st. This meeting included 63 individual runners, and the only individual to place ahead of Hoesing and Roderick was an unattached Alumni runner who finished with a time of 16:34.0.

The biggest enemy for both teams has been the weather. Multiple times during the season, runners were running through mud and wet conditions. Yet, this didn’t stop the women’s team from placing 6th in the ARC Championships, the best finish in 25 years. Hoesing was so close to finishing with All-Conference honors. She had a time of 21:01.1, only 10.5 seconds off from placing in the top 15 in the ARC. In this race, Wartburg dominated with 6th athletes in the top 15 leading them to win the meet with 36 points, while BVU was slightly edged out by Central who recorded 162 points compared to BVU’s 166 points.

“Our team is definitely moving in the right direction. Our team has a good work ethic and is willing to put in the work to make improvements,” Hoesing commented on the historic placing.

The men were not so fortunate in their ARC Championship appearance, being swept away with the rest of the conference by Warburg, who held 5 of the top 7 spots at the meet. Joe Freiburger of Wartburg won the individual title with a time of 26:47.6, whereas BVU’s best runner was Jon Flaws who placed 99th with a time of 30:35.1. The men’s team finished in 9th place with a point total of 277. 

With upcoming regionals in their minds, the Cross Country teams shifted their focus toward a move intensive practice schedule.

Freshman Colin Imhoff, who is out with an injury, talked about strategy coming into regionals.

“The team has been slowly cutting down the mile and upping the training intensity. We are also doing a lot more stretching and injury prevention stuff,” he said.

Hoeing is shifting her attention toward her own personal goals and aspirations.

“To prepare for regionals, I am making sure to get extra sleep and I am focusing on getting the right nutrients and staying hydrated. I am also reviewing my goals and looking up statistics from teams in our region to get an idea of where I need to be at in the race,” she said.

Hoesing’s senior leadership has also nabbed her a spot on the American Rivers Conference Fall Academic All-Conference Team, along with male teammates Sophomore Anthony Baird, Junior Brayden Collins, and Sophomore Greg Tystahl. 

The NCAA Division III Regional Championships will be held on November 16th in Waverly Iowa, while the National Championships will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow BVU’s Track and Field and Cross Country teams on Twitter for updates on regionals at @BVU_XCTrack.