Cross Country to Send Two Runners to the National Championship
Goodells, MI – The Timberwolves Cross Country team will be represented again this year at the NJCAA DII National Championship race on Saturday, November 9th at Green Pole Park in Richmond, Virginia.
Zach Maendel (Petoskey/St. Michael’s Academy) qualified on the men’s side. This will be Maendel’s second trip the National Championship as he qualified during his freshman campaign in 2023. He has been the Timberwolves team captain and top runner all season. At the Jayhawks Invitational on October 12th he broke the NCMC record for the men’s 8K with a time of 27:35 – this is Maendel’s current Personal Record. He holds the top 3 times in NCMC Men’s Cross Country history. During the MCCAA & Region XII Championship this past Friday he finished 26th overall with a time of 27:53 in a tough field of competition – including last year’s National Championship team, Lansing Community College.
On the women’s side Kendra Couturier (Lake Leelanau/Lake Leelanau St. Mary) will be competing in her first National Championship race. The freshman has been leading the pack and improving throughout the season. Her new personal record of 21:13 is currently ranked in the top four times for NCMC Women’s Cross Country history and was completed at the Jayhawks Invitational on 10/12/2024. She is only the second Timberwolf to ever earn an individual championship when she won the Firebirds Invitational hosted by Kirtland CC on October 4th. This past Friday during the MCCAA & Region XII Championship she finished in 28th place overall with a time of 21:25.
Best of luck to these runners as they spend the next two weeks preparing for the final race of the season.