Ortiz Breaks Women's Cross Country School Record at Grinnell
Sep 12, 2015
2015 Les Duke Invite
GRINNELL, Iowa - Junior Fabiola Ortiz finished fourth and crossed the line in 22:26 at Grinnell's Les Duke Invite and led the Spartans to a sixth-place showing on Saturday morning.
Ortiz beat out Melissa Maestri's previous record of 22:38, set back in 2004, as the Spartans placed sixth out of 11 teams. UD scored 196 points as Cornell College (36 points) and St. Nortbert (56) took home first and second, respectively.
Ortiz, who earned UD's second, First Team All-IIAC honor in school history during her 2014 cross country campaign, added her new cross country record to her indoor track school records in the 4x800m relay and distance medley relay.
Ortiz was backed up by Kiersten Wenthold, who followed with a time of 24:49, good for a 43rd place finish. Abigail Ray was Dubuque’s third runner came in 44th with a time of 25:04. Following her was Kayla Kinateder (49th, 25:47) and Kristin Mackenburg (56th, 26:36) rounded out the Spartan scoring. Freshman Jackii Roeder finished 61st with a time of 20:08 and Katrina Pagel, who rounded out the Spartan varsity, improved her season-best by over five minutes after placing 73rd with a 30:11.
Overall, six women finished with personal bests on a quick and steady Grinnell course.
"As tough as last week was weather-wise, today was almost ideal," said Head Coach Geoff Gundlach. "A lot of our personal bests today are a result of good consistent training alongside favorable conditions. We are really pleased with our teams' performances and their enthusiasm for one another today. Looking forward to our upcoming schedule and working hard to keep improving."
The Spartans look to improve as they head out to the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. on Friday, September 25 at 5:00 p.m.
