Mt. Mercy Men's Cross Country

Cortes leads Mustangs to Heart title

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy raced to victory in the  Heart of America Conference cross country meet Saturday and led the  Mustangs to the team championship.

Cortes covered the 5K course in 19 minutes, 25.4 seconds for a  convincing 18-second victory over Isabella Guerra of Benedictine.

Emily Erickson of Mount Mercy placed fifth, Andrea Ertz finished sixth  and Kelsi Huhndorf was eighth as the Mustangs had four runners finish  in the top-8. Jessica Ertz finished 29th for Mount Mercy to round out  the team scoring.

Mount Mercy finished with 49 points to edge Baker (54) and Benedictine  (56) for the title. The Mustangs earned an automatic berth to the NAIA  national meet Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash.

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Cortes claims NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede

There were 188 women in the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede at Seminole  Valley Park in Cedar Rapids Saturday, but none of them could catch  Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy.

Cortes, a senior from Bakersfield, Calif., blazed to victory in the 5K  race in 18 minutes, 41.5 seconds, topping Olivia Couch of Dordt by 7.3  seconds.

Mount Mercy finished a robust second out of 20 teams in the women's  race behind Dordt. Kelsi Huhndorf placed 12th for the Mustangs, Andrea  Ertz 16th, Emily Erickson 19th and McKenna Johnson 50th.

This was the second major championship in a row for Cortes. She also  captured first place in the Fighting Bee Invitational Oct. 12.

The Mount Mercy men's cross country team finished seventh out of 20  teams in their race. Jacob Blackmon led the Mustangs in 28th place in  the 8K stampede in 26 minutes, 19.0 seconds.

St. Mary (Kan.) won the men's title. Paul Becker of St. Mary won the  race in 24:54.3.

NAIA SEMINOLE VALLEY STAMPEDE
WOMEN'S RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Dordt 62, 2. Mount Mercy 91, 3. St. Ambrose 116, 4. St. Mary (Kan.)  118, 5. Judson 134, 6. Baker 136, 7. Missouri Baptist 147, 8. Central  Methodist 256, 9. Concordia (Mich.) 280, 10. Viterbo 284. 11. Clarke 315, 12. Trinity International 323, 13. Dakota Wesleyan  325, 14. Grand View 381, 15. William Penn 409, 16. Haskell Indian 438,  17. Valley City State 446, 18. Roosevelt 497, 19. Cardinal Stritch  532, 20. Governors State 628.

Mount Mercy - 1. Vanessa Cortes 18:41.5, 12. Kelsi Huhndorf 19:21.6,  16. Andrea Ertz 19:29.1, 19. Emily Erickson 19:33.2, 50. McKenna  Johnson 20:39.5, 56. Hallie Kephart 20:48.9, 62. Mady Roth 20:52.8.

MEN'S RESULTS
Team Standings

1. St. Mary (Kan.) 25, 2. Baker 67, 3. Dordt 79, 4. Missouri Valley  130, 5. Central Methodist 182, 6. Grand View 191, 7. Mount Mercy 199,  8. Viterbo 221, 9. Haskell Indian 255, 10. St. Ambrose 255. 11. Missouri Baptist 349, 12. Dakota Wesleyan 356, 13. Waldorf 374,  14. Cardinal Stritch 389, 15. Trinity International 430, 16. Clarke  434, 17. Briar Cliff 467, 18. William Penn 469, 19. Governors State  573, 20. Roosevelt 594.