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OCT.
22 — Petkova Becomes Program's First Two-Time Champ
Junior
wins MCC Championship for second straight year; team posts
best times |
Huntington, IN — For the first
time in the 30-year history of Goshen College cross country, the
program has a two-time conference champion.
Junior All-American Petrana Petkova defended her 2004 Mid-Central
Conference Championship with a school-record time of 18:13 Saturday
at Huntington University, becoming the school’s first two-time
conference champ, male or female. Petkova’s personal best
time on Saturday was a necessity, as she captured the 2005 conference
title by a mere four seconds. Tayor University’s Laura York
was close behind Petkova for the entire afternoon — she finished
second in a clip of 18:17 — but it wasn’t enough to
close in on Petkova and her record-breaking accomplishment.
“Petrana ran an excellent race,” said Doug Yoder, Goshen
head coach. “She was able to set the pace, and even with
a challenger running close by, win comfortably.”
Petkova’s time on Saturday was far better than her 18:45
MCC-winning time last season, and it was a good thing: Had Petkova
duplicated that time, she would have finished fourth on Saturday.
“The competition this year at the top was much better than
last year,” Yoder said. “Those (top) runners pushed
Petrana into running against her best times.”
Petkova’s 18:13 clip outdid the former program record of
18:15 held by 2004 graduate Heidi Saunders, and was also an improvement
from Petkova’s 2004 NAIA Regional Championship (an 18:19
effort). If Petkova could somehow improve on her most recent time
for the upcoming NAIA Regional Championship in two weeks, she would
be the school’s first two-time regional champion, either
male or female.
That is all very exciting for Yoder, but he said he’s content
to focus on preparing rather than speculating.
“Petrana has done some incredible things in her short time
here, and we’re not thinking about exactly what records she
can break or precedents she can set,” Yoder said. “We
simply will continue to train in hopes that our best effort (at
the regional
event) will come out of it.”
Petkova’s effort on Saturday highlighted a balanced team
performance that saw every runner improve on their respective times
from a week earlier, leading Goshen to a sixth-place team finish
with 132 team points. Junior Laura Herr (19th place, 19:51) and
senior Rachel Yantzi (23rd place, 19:58) each broke the 20-minute
barrier for the first time in their careers, while sophomore Anna
Mast displayed continued improvement with a personal-best time
of 21:22, good for a 50th place finish.
“As a team, we had a good showing with many season bests
and personal bests being recorded,” Yoder said. “Laura
Herr and Rachel Yantzi each established personal milestones breaking
the
20-minute barrier for the first time in their careers. This was
outstanding considering that the Huntington course is not necessarily
an easy one.”
Freshman Laura Harnish was fifth in line for the Leafs, recording
a time of 21:56. Junior Rachel Wigginton finsished in 69th place
overall (22:53) while freshman Tessa Horst recorded her best-ever
time, a 22:58 performance in a 73rd-place finish.
Indiana Wesleyan University won the team championship with just
45 team points on the afternoon. Spring Arbor University (46 points)
narrowly missed out in a second-place effort. Bethel College finished
third (84 points), Taylor fourth (107 points), Huntington fifth
(125 points) and Marian College seventh (172 points).
Goshen will next compete in the NAIA Region VIII Championships.
That meet is set for Saturday, Nov. 5. Women’s
race time is set to begin at 12 p.m.
A look at Goshen’s past conference champions, both male
and female. . .
| Season |
Champion
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| 1980 |
Mark Plank
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| 1985 |
Fred Kem
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| 1988 |
Aletha Stall
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| 1991 |
Geoff Douglas
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| 1992 |
Maria Witmer
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| 2002 |
Heidi Saunders
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| 2004 |
Petrana Petkova
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| 2005 |
Petrana Petkova
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Goshen Individual Results
Petrana Petkova (1st) — 18:13
Laura Herr (19th) — 19:51
Rachel Yantzi (23rd) — 19:58
Anna Mast (50th) — 21:22
Laura Harnish (59th) — 21:56
Rachel Wigginton (69th) — 22:53
Tessa Horst (73rd) — 22:58
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  Junior
Petrana Petkova
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