The Idaho Vandals men’s cross-country team had a great day on the track as freshman Kristian Børve placed third in the 8K, with a time of 23:43.59, just four seconds short of first place. Børve led the Vandals to their third straight runner-up finish, also earning Big Sky men’s cross-country athlete of the week.
Senior Miles Ferguson also broke his personal best with a time of 24:22.97 where he finished 20th.
Freshman Jens Knutsen, a Boise native, posted his best finish at Idaho, placing 23rd and shaving nearly two minutes off his previous 8K collegiate best, finishing in 24:30.29.
Director of Track and Field and Cross-Country Tracy Hellman was pleased with the team’s performance.
“I thought Kristian had an outstanding race for his first opener, and I thought Jens had a breakout performance,” Hellman said in Vandal Athletics press release. “For the men to finish runner up in a quality field was a great spot for our program.”
The women’s team also impressed behind the time of sophomore Jesse Redding who led the Vandals in the women’s 5000 meters, placing sixth with a time of 17:21.70.
Redding set a personal best and led the team to a fourth-place finish, just five points behind Portland.
Alex Terry followed her previous meet win with a placement of 13th, which is her third straight top 15 placement this season.
“The women looked strong, and we continue to build towards championship season,” Hellman said, in the release. “I thought Jesse and Mary [Nakumura] both had breakout races and our whole team did a great job.”
The Vandals travel to Lewiston this weekend for the Lewis-Clark Invitational. The women are scheduled to start at 9:45 a.m. and the men will start at 10:45 a.m. This will be the final meet on their regular season schedule.
Taylan Hallum can be reached at [email protected].