Steinmetz continues breakout season
LINCOLN, Neb. -- After her fifth-place and school-record producing finish in her debut race at the Augustana Twilight meet two weeks ago, Grace Steinmetz continued her freshman breakout season with an eleventh-place overall finish at the Greeno/Dirksen Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Steinmetz finished as the top NAIA runner in a field of 231 runners dominated by NCAA Division I athletes on her way to a 5-kilometer clocking of 18:11.6, now the fourth fastest 5K in school history behind her own record and two Madison Nelson performances.
The meet, hosted by UN-Lincoln and Nebraska Wesleyan, at Lincoln's Mahoney Park Gold Course was run under less than ideal conditions with warming temperatures, high humidity, and soft ground following overnight rain. Though the women ran together in a single race, results were tabulated in two divisions: Red for NCAA Division I and Gold for all other divisions. Steinmetz was fifth in the Gold Division to lead the five-person scoring team for the Bruins. UMKC transfer Maggie Boley placed 96th in her Bruin debut with a 21:07.3 clocking, Alicia Rivera Camargo crossed in 21:46.7 for 112th, freshman Wren Hofacket finished in 120th with a time of 21:58.0, and Cloey Usher rounded out the Bruin scorers with a 24:52.3 time in 158th. Emily Usher was the final Bruin finisher in 163rd and 27:49.5.
For the first time in two seasons, the Bruin women were able to post a team score of five runners and finished 15th of 16 teams.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "I really liked what I saw from the group today. I can tell that we're excited about getting better and running as a team. The conditions didn't exactly make it easy today, but if there was some disappointment, it just means that we know there are better things ahead. I'm confident of that. Grace ran a stellar race again today and isn't afraid to run with the big D1 girls. That was our highest finish ever at this meet (previous best 36th by Madison Nelson in 2024). I was proud of our team."
The Bruins get right back into action as they travel to Columbia, Missouri, for the Gans Creek Classic next Friday, Sept. 26. That meet will again feature a number of strong NCAA teams as well as some nationally ranked NAIA teams.