Mount Mercy University - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cortes wins twice for Mount Mercy

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy was the undisputed queen  of the distance races at the Heart of America Conference track meet  this weekend.

Cortes captured the 10,000 meter run on Friday and claimed the 5,000-meter race on Saturday in 18 minutes, 39.08 seconds.

Cortes helped the Mustangs finish fourth out of 12 teams in the standings.

Jasmine Wardell of Mount Mercy won the shot put (13.01 meters) and  Kathryn Vander Poel claimed the 1500 (4:46.21). Vander Poel also  finished second in the 800 (2:19.37). Andrea Ertz placed third in the  1500 (4:54.35) and Alexa Zamora was third in the 5000 (19:19.08).

Colton Forster won the 10,000 meter run in 31:54.27 for the Mount  Mercy men's track team. Jon Anderson, James Lindstrom and Forster also  collected second-place showings.

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Mustangs ousted from Heart softball

The Mount Mercy Mustangs lost to Benedictine, 4-1, in the losers  bracket of the Heart of America Conference softball tournament Friday at Busse Field and were ousted from the postseason event.

Mount Mercy compiled a 2-2 record in the tournament and finished in fourth place. The Mustangs ended their season with a 32-22 record.

Benedictine lost to Grand View in the losers bracket finals Friday after topping Mount Mercy. Grand View will face Baker in the  championship round Saturday of the double-elimination tournament.

Baker and Grand View have both clinched spots in the NAIA national  tournament, regardless of who wins the conference title.

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Cortes wins 10,000 for Mount Mercy

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy captured the 10,000 meter  run at the Heart of America Conference track meet Friday.

Cortes was clocked in 38 minutes, 56.67 seconds. She dominated the  race and won by 29.05 seconds.

The Mustangs placed second in the women's 4x800 relay in 9:38.58.  Kathryn Vander Poel, Andrea Ertz, McKenna Johnson and Mady Roth shared  the baton.

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Mustangs have Heart, reach Final 4

Tawny Menster knows her college softball career will end at some point  this month, but she's really glad it did not happen Thursday night.

Menster pitched a complete and the Mount Mercy Mustangs capitalized on  a huge break for a 6-2 victory over Central Methodist in a losers  bracket game in the Heart of America Conference tournament at Busse  Field.

The Mustangs (32-21) have already staved off two elimination games and  they'll try to do it again when they face Benedictine (28-25) Friday  at 2:30 p.m. on Day 3 of the tournament.

Baker (43-7) and Grand View (43-8), a pair of NAIA Top 20 powers, meet  in the winners bracket final Friday at noon. If Mount Mercy beats  Benedictine at 2:30, the Mustangs would face Baker or Grand View in  the losers bracket final Friday at 5 p.m.

The championship round is Saturday.

Mount Mercy trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning when they  got the biggest break of the tournament. They had the bases loaded  with two outs, but the threat appeared to be over when pinch-hitter  Jaicee Lyons hit a pop-up right behind second base.

The Central Methodist shortstop settled under the pop-up for the third  out, but the ball popped out of her glove for a two-run error that  gave Mount Mercy a 3-2 lead.

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