Sioux Center, Iowa – The 2017 Great Plains Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championships, presented by Cypress Risk Management, were held on Saturday, November 4, at the Dordt College Cross Country Course in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Northwestern College scored 38 points to claim the 2017 GPAC Championship. The Red Raiders had the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 11th, and 16th place runners to claim back-to-back titles. Doane was second with 59 points, while Dordt was third with 89.
Jeremiah Panec from Dakota Wesleyan University was the individual champion with a time of 24:56.09. He is the first male individual conference champion for Dakota Wesleyan.
The win gives Northwestern the GPAC automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships on November 18 in Vancouver, Washington, at the Fort Vancouver Historic Site.
The race was run in 39 degree weather under overcast skies in Sioux Center, Iowa.
The NAIA will release a list of the additional team and individual qualifiers on Monday, Nov. 6.
The top-15 runners in the race are GPAC All-Conference and Scott Bahrke from Northwestern College was named the GPAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
