Nationally ranked Morningside had three of the top four individual finishers en route to the women’s team championship at the Mount Marty Invitational cross country meet.

Michelle Mumm

Payton Boer

Fifteenth ranked Morningside College had three of the top four individual finishers when it captured the women’s team championship at the Mount Marty College Invitational cross country meet held Saturday at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, S.D.

The Mustangs finished with 31 points for a 16-point victory margin over runner-up Dickinson State University (47) in the nine-team field.

Morningside was third in a 10-team men’s division with 86 points to finish behind Dickinson State (65) and Valley City State University (79).

Morningside’s Michelle Mumm, a senior from Neola, Iowa, was the individual champion in the women’s race with a time of 18:51.44 over the 5k course. Payton Boer, a junior from Sioux Center, Iowa, was the runner-up with a time of 19:21.70 and Allison Higgins, a junior from Jefferson, Iowa, finished fourth in 19:30.69.

Jason Kenny

Allison Higgins

The Mustangs’ other counters in the team scoring were Alexandra George, a sophomore from Seward, Neb., and Megan Maaske, a junior from Woodbine, Iowa, who finished 15th and 16th with times of 20:20.18 and 20:20.73, respectively.

Jason Kenny, a senior from Schaller, Iowa, was the Mustangs’ top finisher in the men’s race with the ninth place time of 26:59.22 over the 8k course.

The Mustangs also had a top 20 finish from Anthony Patton, a junior from Lincoln, Neb., who finished 17th with a time of 27:24.27.

Morningside will compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Cross Country Championships on Nov. 4 in Sioux Center, Iowa.