BETHANY, Okla. -- Freshman runner Hope Ahnfeldt continued mounting accolades by capturing the individual champion medal, the men's team posted the fastest time in program history and the Golden Eagles qualified at least three runners to the NAIA National Championships as both John Brown University cross country teams finished in third place at the Sooner Athletic Championships on Saturday morning (Nov. 5) at Eldon Lyon Park.
For the third-consecutive season, a Golden Eagle stood atop the women's podium after the conference championship meet, and this time Ahnfeldt continued the streak set by Allika Pearson '22 by crossing the finish line at 18:44, 12 seconds faster than Oklahoma City's Cailen Jolley. Ahnfeldt's mark was not only good enough to win the race, it set a program record for fastest time by a Golden Eagle freshman ever at the SAC Championships.
VOLUME 🆙 🥹 Example of being a great Golden Eagle teammate! Freshman Hope Ahnfeldt celebrates with senior Emerson Turner in a moment of success after Turner joined Ahnfeldt in qualifying for the NAIA National Championships ... three years after qualifying for the NCAA II Central Region Championships. 🦅
Posted by John Brown University Athletics on Sunday, November 6, 2022
With her performance, Ahnfeldt captured one of four available at-large berths available to individual qualifiers, but she wasn't the only one. Senior Emerson Turner broke the tape in a time of 19:46 and finished in sixth place overall, cementing her spot in the NAIA National Championships field – marking at least two qualifiers for the Golden Eagles, a program first.
Both Ahnfeldt and Turner earned All-Conference accolades by virtue of finishing in the top 15 runners of the field of 49, but joining the duo on the All-Conference list was freshman Liz Vazquez and her time of 21:05, which was good enough for 15th place overall.
This marked the first time in program history that the Golden Eagles boasted three all-conference honorees.
Sophomore Olivia Scates finished her morning at 21:26, landing her 19th place, and junior Sarah Smith rounded out the scoring for John Brown in 22nd place in a time of 21:50.
Oklahoma City captured the team title in a time of 1:37:58, earning the Sooner Athletic's automatic bid to the NAIA Championships. Texas Wesleyan finished in second place, narrowly besting JBU in points, 60-62, despite finishing six seconds slower than the Golden Eagles, which finished at 1:42:53.
The men then took off in the 8,000 meter championship race and set a slew of new records, including total team time and number of All-Conference finishes.
Despite finishing third of seven teams, the Golden Eagles posted a team time of 2:11:58 – setting a new program record, not only at the SAC Championships, but in any 8K ever. The time was 18 seconds faster than the previous mark, set at the Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) Tiger Invitational last season.
Leading the Golden Eagles and qualifying for his first NAIA National Championships was junior Jean-Benoit Merte, who finished in a personal-record time of 25:33, good enough for 11th place overall and an All-Conference finish.
Sophomore Josiah Petak and freshman Chase Schermer joined Merte as All-Conference honorees with times of 25:56 (13th) and 26:08 (14th), respectively. If the championship meet runner-up, Wayland Baptist (Texas), earns an at-large berth to the NAIA National Championships, Petak and Schermer will join Merte at the national race.
Senior Jadin Whiting and junior Jake Hagood also scored for John Brown, crossing the line at 27:02 (20th) and 27:16 (22nd), respectively.
Senior Drew Birnbaum (27:53), sophomore Daniel Haefli (30:52), freshman Joshua Loh (32:20) and senior Kai Thng (29:30) joined Merte, Petak and Schermer as all seven set new personal records at the meet.
Oklahoma City captured the men's team title in a time of 2:04:17 and claimed the league's automatic berth.
Petak and Schermer will wait until the NAIA announces the championship field on Monday (Nov. 7) to learn if the pair will join Merte, Ahnfeldt and Turner on their trip to the NAIA National Championships, which is slated for Nov. 18 at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.
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