JOPLIN, Mo. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's and women's cross-country teams wrapped up the 2024 season on Saturday at the Central Regional Championships at Tom Rutledge Cross-Country Course. The men's team placed 20th and the women's team placed 30th out of 31. 

"I am really proud of how well our runners ran today," said head coach Jonathan Breitbarth. "The resilience they showed from two weeks ago along with the resilience they showed from last year. A lot of great improvement."

Emmett Faltesek was the top runner in 61st with a personal best time of 32:09.4 in the 10K race. This marked the second-fastest time by a CSP senior and the seventh-fastest race by a Golden Bear at a regional race. He beat his previous best by 25 seconds and tied for the fifth-best finish by a CSP runner at an invitational.

Senior Matt Krummel placed 80th with a time of 32:27.5, which marked the 11th fastest race by a Golden Bear at a regional. Will Sacay finished in 106th at 32:56.3 tallying the fourth-fastest 10K by a CSP junior. 

Andrew Alexander placed 132nd with a time of 33:40.6 for the 10th-fastest 10K for a Concordia sophomore. This marked a personal best as he beat his previous time by 2:43.6. 

Ethan Blischke placed 152nd at 34:10.1 and Andrew Boyum finished 156th at 34:20.3. These marked the ninth and 10th fastest times by CSP juniors in a 10K race. Freshman Travis Tock placed 173rd in his first career 10K race with a time of 34:50.3.

Nyadio Chan led the Golden Bears for the second-straight race running Saturday's 6K in 23:36.3 for a personal best. She beat her previous best by 42.1 seconds. This marked the eighth-fastest 6K by a CSP junior. 

Sophomore Maddy Bryant finished 162nd with a time of 24:39.6. Senior Anna Sajdak finished her career with a season-best time of 24:51.5 placing 173rd. Senior Kelsey Thelen posted a time of 25:55.8 to finish in 193rd.

Carolina Scott ran a personal best of 27:15.8 finishing in 211th. This beat her previous best by 16 seconds. Stephanie De Leon took 218th with a time of 30:57.2. 

The Concordia men placed 6th out of 11 NSIC teams at the regional. The Golden Bears beat Minnesota State by seven placement points and Sioux Falls by 47 placement points. Augustana was the top NSIC team in seventh.

East Central won the men's team race with a score of 71, beating Northwest Missouri in second at 76. Augustana's Ryan Hartman won as an individual with a time of 30:08.0. 

Augustana won the women's team race placing three runners in the top 10. UMary took third place and Winona State came in fourth. UMary's Alyssa Becker placed first with a time of 20:20.2. The top four women's runners were all from the NSIC. 

The Golden Bears continued their regular community engagement projects at the meets they travel to. This week, the Golden Bears aided at the Joplin Humane Society clearing play areas for the dogs and playing with a group of cats. They also sorted through the dog food and disposed of any expired items. 

Concordia-St. Paul is set to start the indoor track and field season on Dec. 6-7 at the South Dakota State Holiday Open. 

Men's Team – 20^th Place – 532 points

• Best men's regional place finish since finishing 11^th at the 2019 Region Meet
• Lowest men's regional point total since scoring 338 points at the 2019 Region Meet
• Our men's team finished as the sixth NSIC School. The two teams CSP beat today but lost to at the conference meet were Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls.

Men's Individual Placers (207 runners)

61st Place – Emmett Faltesek -  32:09.4 – Emmett establishes a new Personal Best Record improving by 26.6 seconds from his 2022 NCAA Regional Meet Performance. Emmett runs the seventh fastest race by a CSP runner at the Tom Rutledge course. It was the second fastest CSP race since the course made a configuration change for the 2023 Championships. Emmett runs the seventh fastest race cross country 10K by a CSP runner. Emmett runs the second fastest 10K cross country race by a CSP senior in CSP school history. Emmett runs the seventh fastest fastest race by a CSP runner at an NCAA Regional Meet. Emmett finished as the 12^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 24^th two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Emmett runs 1:42.8 faster than his 2023 Central Region Performance. Emmett improves by 66 places from his 2023 NCAA Central Region performance and 78 places from his 2022 NCAA Central Region performance. Of the 101 runners who ran in both the 2023 Central Region Meet and the 2024 Central Region Meet, Emmett had the 9^th best time improvement of any of those runners. Of the 80 runners who ran in both the 2024 NSIC Championships and the 2024 Central Region Emmett had the 10^th best time improvement (converting the 10K to 8K) of any of the 80 runners.

80th Place –  Matt Krummel - 32:27.5 – Matt sets a new season best time. Matt runs the fourth fastest cross country 10K race by a CSP senior in school history. Matt runs the 10^th fastest race by a CSP runner at the Tom Rutledge course. It was the third fastest CSP race since the course made a configuration change for the 2023 Championships. Matt finished as the 19^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 37^th place two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Matt runs 46.9 seconds faster than his 2023 Central Region Performance. Matt improves by 25 places from his 2023 Central Region Performance. Matt improves by 74 places from his 2021 Central Region performance. Of the 80 runners who ran in both the 2024 NSIC Championships and the 2024 Central Region Matt had the sixth best time improvement (converting the 10K to 8K) of any of the 80 runners.

106th Place – Will Sacay – 32:56.3 – Will sets a new season best time.  Will runs the fifth fastest cross country 10K by a CSP junior in school history. Will runs the fourth fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change before the 2023 Central Region Championships. Will finished as the 29^th NSIC Finisher today.

132nd Place – Andrew Alexander – 33:40.6 – Andrew establishes a new Personal Best Time improving by 2:44.4 seconds from his 2023 Central Region Performance. Andrew runs the ninth fastest cross country 10K by a CSP junior in school history. Andrew finished as the 41^st NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 49^th place two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Andrew runs the sixth fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change before the 2023 Central Region Championships. Andrew improved by 53 places from his 2023 Central Region Performance. Of the 101 runners who ran in both the 2023 Central Region Meet and the 2024 Central Region Meet, Andrew had the third best time improvement of any of those runners.

153rd Place – Ethan Blischke – 34:10.1 – Ethan sets a new season best time. Ethan finished as the 53^rd NSIC Finisher today after fnishing in 71^st place to weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Ethan runs the eighth fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change before the 2023 Central Region Championships. Ethan improves by 12 places from his 2022 Central Region Performance.

157th Place – Andrew Boyum – 34:20.3 – Andrew establishes a new Personal Best Performance. Andrew finished as the 56^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 86^th place finish two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Andrew runs the ninth fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change before the 2023 Central Region Championships. 

174th Place – Travis Tock – 34:50.3 – Travis Establishes a new Personal Best Performance. Travis finished as the 68^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 95^th place two weeks ago at the NSIC championships.

Women's Team – 30^th Place – 839 points

• With the 30^th place finish, the women's team ties the best women's regional place finish since finishing 17^th at the 2019 Region Meet
• Lowest women's regional point total since scoring 485 points at the 2019 Region Meet
• Our women's team finished as the 13^th NSIC School after finishing 15^th at the Conference Meet. 
   

Women's Individual Placers (218 runners)

122nd Place – Nyadio Chan – 23:36.3 – Nyadio sets a new personal best time improving by 42.7 seconds on her performance from 2 weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Nyadio runs the eighth fastest 6K race by a CSP junior runner in school history. Nyadio finished as the 46^th NSIC finisher today after finishing in 100^th place Two Weeks Ago at the NSIC Championships. Nyadio's 122^nd place finish is the highest CSP woman's finish at the NCAA Regional Meet sincie Lucia Mesfin finished 60^th at the 2019 NCAA Regional. Nyadio's time of 23:36.3 is the fastest race by a CSP runner since Lucia Mesfin ran a 22:59.1 at the 2019 NCAA Central Regional Meet. Nyadio's 23:36.3 was the fourth fastest race by a CSP runner at the Tom Rutledge race. It was the fastest CSP race with the new course configuration established at the 2023 Central Regional meet. Nyadio improved by 2 minutes 28.5 seconds from her 2023 NCAA Central Regional race. Nyadio improved by 40 places from her 2023 NCAA Central Region Performance. Of the 102 runners who ran in both the 2023 Central Region Meet and the 2024 Central Region Meet, Nyadio had the 5^th best time improvement of any of those runners. Of the 81 runners who ran in both the 2024 NSIC Championships and the 2024 Central Region Nyadio had the best time improvement of any of the 81 runners.

162nd Place – Maddy Bryant – 24:39.6 - Maddy finished as the 61^st NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 102^nd place two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Maddy's race was the third fastest race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration changed in 2023.

173rd Place – Anna Sajdak – 24:51.5 – Anna sets a new personal best time improving by 14.5 seconds from her performance two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Anna finished as the 67^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 109^th place finish two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Anna's race was the fourth fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration changed in 2023. Anna improved by 10 seconds from her time at the 2023 NCAA Regional Meet. Of the 81 runners who ran in both the 2024 NSIC Championships and the 2024 Central Region Anna had the sixth best time improvement of any of the 81 runners.

193rd Place – Kelsey Thelen – 25:55.8 – Kelsey finished as the 73^rd NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 112^th place finish two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Kelsey runs the seventh fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change in 2023.  Kelsey improved by 4.2 seconds from her time at the 2023 NCAA Regional Meet.

212th Place – Carolina Scott – 27:15.8 – Carolina sets a new Personal Best Performance improving by 15.7 seconds from her performance two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Carolina finished as the 79^th NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 139^th place two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships. Carolina runs the 10^th fastest CSP race at the Tom Rutledge course since the course configuration change in 2023. Of the 81 runners who ran in both the 2024 NSIC Championships and the 2024 Central Region Carolina had the fifth best time improvement of any of the 81 runners.

219th Place – Stephanie De Leon – 30:57.2 - 81^st NSIC Finisher today after finishing in 144^th place two weeks ago at the NSIC Championships.