News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC sportswriter 

It was a wild ending to an interesting season for the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s cross country team as it competed in a snowy NJCAA Division II National Championships meet in Iowa Saturday, Nov. 8. 

As a team, the Centurions, led by first-year Head Coach Nate “Q” Van Holten, finished 22nd overall, which, according to Holten, is the highest the team ranked all season. The team’s star runner, freshman Abby Davis (Vestaburg, Mich.), who is the Region 12 champion, finished in 12th place individually, with a time of 19 minutes, 43.3 seconds.  

MCC did not have a men’s team represented in the race. The team’s lone full-time runner, Keegan Shafer (Vestaburg, Mich.) did not compete in the meet. 

The course at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa, was blanketed by as much as four inches of snow, which provided an added challenge to the race, along with the top Division II runners across the country. Arianna Mason of Paradise Valley Community College (Ariz.) won the individual race with a time of 18:48.9. Muskegon Community College’s Tatum Dykstra, who’d been a worthy rival to Davis all season, finished seventh with a time of 19:15.2. 

Team-wise, Mesa Community College (Ariz.) won with a score of 54, followed by Paradise Valley, 87, and Daytona State (Fla.), with 220. MCC finished 22nd with a score of 606, while Muskegon finished fifth (228).  

Though the snow on the course was packed down from the previous race held that day, Davis said it still provided a great challenge for her and her fellow runners. 

“It was not deep to run in, but because of the snow, the mud and how cold it was, it definitely made me use more energy,” Davis said. “Considering the weather, I think I did OK. I was not prepared for it, that’s for sure.” 

Van Holten said the team had stayed at a hotel about an hour south of the course and did not have any winter weather there. It wasn’t until the team arrived at the race that they realized the elements would be playing a major factor. 

“I knew we’d see some snow but I didn’t think it was going to be quite as heavy as it was,” Van Holten said. “From where we were staying to driving to the course, it was totally different.” 

Though she qualified for the All-American team (placing 15th or higher), Davis was not satisfied with her personal outcome. 

“I think I let myself get a little too discouraged before my race,” she said. “The placement, for me, at a national meet, is something I’m not very proud of. But that was definitely the toughest race I have ever been in.” 

Van Holten praised Davis and the results she had earned all season, including at the national championship. However, he admitted Davis is better than what the results show. 

“I probably agree with Abby, that she could’ve done better, but you can’t be disappointed when you finish as an All-American,” he said. “I don’t know the answer as to what held her back, but it was probably a combination of the weather, the course and, of course the mental side of things of going up against so many good runners.” 

Unlike in previous races, Davis was never able to keep up with the front of the pack, according to Van Holten, stating she fell back as far as 19th and had to work her way up to the 12th-place spot. 

“She was shivering a ton before the race and she doesn’t weigh a lot, so I know the weather impacted her,” Van Holten said.  

Davis said she took in a lot from this race, which she hopes will benefit her in her next chapter of cross country racing, which she is hoping will be at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. She will graduate from MCC this spring plans to transfer to FSU, where she will pursue a science and arts degree. 

“From this experience, I learned a lot and I believe it will only help me in the future once I get thrown into conditions like this again,” she said. 

Other Centurions runners included:  

• Mickiah Allbee (Vestaburg, Mich.), 22:11.3 (108th) 

• Mackenzie Zahm (Belding, Mich.), 22:15.4 (114th) 

• Hannah Reed (Cedar Springs, Mich.), 24:02.8 (203rd) 

• Lilyanrose Martin (Ionia, Mich.), 24:41.5 (230th) 

• Joslyn Dickman (Alma, Mich.), 24:52.1 (239th) 

• Karly Fisk (Sand Lake, Mich.), 25:14.1 (253th) 

Van Holten said, overall, the national championship experience was a success, individually and team-wise.  

“I’m a number guys and I was crunching the numbers from the national competition and I felt we could’ve finished a little higher even, but, at the same time, I’m not disappointed in how we did at all.” 

MCC finished 10 points behind both Potomac State (W. Va.) and Lake Land College (Ill.), which both finished with 596 points.