A Bruin veteran and two rookies will toe the starting line at Friday's NAIA National Cross Country Championship in Fort Vancouver, Wash. It will be the first time that members of the men's program will compete on the national stage while the first-ever NSAA individual champion will represent the Bruin women.
Senior Chris Casart of Plattsmouth has been a part of the Bruin cross country program since its inception four seasons ago and he is truly a testament to perseverance and dedication. While coming close to qualification in previous seasons, he broke through this fall by running a well-executed race over the hills of Platteview Country Club at the NSAA championships. "You can't help but be a strong runner when you put in as many miles as Chris has," said Head Coach Craig Christians. "I thought that he'd do well on what I consider a "strength" course and he didn't disappoint." Casart regularly logs 80 or more miles of running per week, hitting a high this season of 100 with a single long run of 20 miles. Christians added, "I was happy to see Chris rewarded for all of his hard work because nobody outworks him."
Freshman Peyton Anthony of Papillion-LaVista South will join Casart on the starting line at Nationals. He and Casart have traded places as the number one runner on the team several times this fall and their personal bests of 26:59.4 and 27:00.8 for eight kilometers illustrate just how close they've been. Christians said, "Peyton came in with great credentials but hadn't experienced a season of significant mileage. It was great to have Chris there as a role model and I think Peyton learned so much by watching Chris' example and trying to follow it. I believe that Peyton is going to play a big role in moving our program forward before he is done at BU."
The Bruins' final representative will be freshman Madison Nelson, also a product of the Plattsmouth distance program under the direction of Coach Todd Nott. Nelson won BU's first conference championship in any distance running discipline when she led wire to wire at the NSAA championships on November 5. Nelson has been a model of consistency from her training, where she averages about 50 miles per week, to her racing where she has varied less than 30 seconds over the span of five races. Christians noted, "Madison displays remarkable training discipline as her schedule has required 7:00 AM practices all season and she shows up without fail and goes to work, often by herself. I thought she ran with a little more aggression at the conference meet and I think she gained some confidence from that. I'm excited to see what she will do in the outstanding field that will be assembled for nationals."
The NAIA Cross Country Championships will be run over the grounds of historic Fort Vancouver on Friday, November 19 beginning with the men's 8K race at 10:30 a.m. The women's 5K championship will begin at 11:30 a.m. Each race will feature 36 full teams and over 330 runners.
