Pride cross country reaches new heights as Bickler, Franco, and Capron highlight Heart Championships

November 4, 2023

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Capping off, for some, a long fall 2023 of training, the Clarke University cross country teams provided both inividual and team best performances at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday morning/afternoon.

The Pride saw both the women's 6K and men's 8K record broken by a total of three runners on the day as the women's team finish of fourth place and the men's finish of seventh place became the top finish by both teams at the Heart Championships since CU joined the conference in the 2015-16 school year.

Highlighting one of, if not the best day in program history was the women's duo of Rory Bickler and Jaycie Franco as the tandem finished eighth and ninth respectively to earn All-Conference honors with both ladies absolutely shattering Bickler's previous school record 6K time of 23:33 with Bickler beating her own time by 30 seconds to stay the school record holder at 23:03.9 and Franco not far behind at 23:08.0.

With their placement in the top nine and Benedictine earning the team bid to the NAIA Championship race in Vancouver, Wash. on Nov. 17, both Bickler and Franco qualify for the NAIA race as individuals, marking the first time since the 2020 season for a member of Pride cross country to run at Nationals.

For the men, freshman Chesney Capron broke the 8K record that stood for 14 years with a 26:28.2, eclipsing the previous school record of 26:37 by Isaac Mase set all the way back in 2009. Capron finished in 24th individually as he led the Clarke team's seventh place finish, the exact middle of the 13-team field, the first time the Pride men had ever finished above eighth at the Heart Championships.

The remainder of the women's fourth place team times saw Megan Hageman place in 26th with a 24:26.0, Lydia Radeke finish at 25:29.9 for 46th place, and Samantha Callahan put up a 26:11.1 for 54th place. Allena Rowland and Lena Wilson rounded out the full lineup but didn't score for the team as the sixth and seventh finishers at 26:13.6 and 29:10.9 respectively.

The top-five split for the men was closer than the women's as Emmett Schwartzhoff earned what would now be the third-best 8K time in school history at a 26:42.1 for 29th place, Bryce Kondos finished in 42nd at 27:08.5, Drew Pate ran a 27:37.5 in 51st, and Eric Chatham rounded out the team score at 27:51.8. Charlie Juntunen and Cord Nietert finished off the full lineup for the Pride with Juntunen clocking in at 28:42.4 and Nietert ending his race at 30:57.9.

All eyes will now turn to the true final cross country race of 2023 for Bickler and Franco as they will train for the NAIA Championship race as previously mentioned that will take place at the Fort Vancouver Historical Course on Friday, Nov. 17 with the women's race set to go off at 10:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. CT.