The Purdue University Northwest Women's and Men's Cross Country teams will travel to Romeoville, Ill. for the Flyer Early Bird Meet Friday, September 2nd to start the season.
The men's 6k race will begin at 6 P.M. CT, with the women's 4k race following at 6:30 P.M. CT.
Women's Season Preview The Women's Cross Country team features four returners from last season. Senior Christina Shaginaw (Hobart, Ind./Hobart HS) (Hobart HS / Hobart, IN) will lead the Pride and hopes to beat her 6k personal best of 22:27.2. She will be joined by fellow seniors Holly Shaginaw (Hobart, Ind./Hobart HS) (Hobart HS / Hobart, IN), Megan Teitge (Kouts, Ind./Morgan Township HS) (Valparaiso HS / Valparaiso, IN), and Morgan Bartlett (East Troy, Wis./East Troy HS) (East Troy HS / East Troy, WI) all with hopes to continue to progress throughout this upcoming season.
Purdue Northwest also welcomes five new runners to the program: Carina Alanis (Frankfort, Ind./Frankfort HS) (Frankfort HS / Frankfort, IN), Abby Artherhults (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso HS) (Valparaiso HS / Valparaiso, IN), Caitlyn Derwinski (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point HS) (Crown Point HS / Crown Point, IN), Landry Koski (Rock, Mich./Mid Peninsula HS) (Mid Peninsula HS / Rock, MI), and Annika Peterson (Schoolcraft, Mich./Schoolcraft HS) (Schoolcraft HS / Schoolcraft, MI).
"The PNW women's team looks great coming into season. The Pride are hungry and work well together already, which is what we want and need from them to continue to improve," stated Coach Whittaker.
Men's Season Preview The Men's Cross Country team return five individuals to this years team with four of their top seven runners from last season. Returning for the Pride will be senior Eric Alegre (Highland, Ind./Highland High School) (Highland HS / Highland, IN), juniors Adam Glaub (Metamora, Ill./Metamora Township HS) (Metamora Township HS / Metamora, IL) and Carter Leak (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County HS) (Jennings County HS / North Vernon, IN), and sophomores Quinton Bock (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point HS) (Crown Point HS / Crown Point, IN) and Bruce Leipart (Hobart, Ind./Hobart HS) (Hobart HS / Demotte, IN), who all look to improve from last year.
Newcomers to the Pride this season include: Hayden Podlin (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central HS) (Lake Central HS / Dyer, IN), Sharmarke Ali (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln HS) (Lincoln HS / Gahanna, OH), Brandan Bagnara (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) (Oak Forest HS / Oak Forest, IL), Jackson Bakker (Lowell, Ind./Lowell HS) (Lowell HS / Lowell, IN), Kolten Becker (Hanna, Ind./South Central Jr./Sr. HS) (South Central Jr/Sr HS / Hanna, IN), Joe Meagher (Hobart, Ind./Hobart HS) (Hobart HS / Hobart, IN). Avery Ramos (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central HS) (Lake Central HS / Dyer, IN). Ethan Walden (Rolling Prairie, Ind./New Prairie HS) (New Prairie HS / Rolling Prairie, IN). and Brendan Wiegand (Romeo, Mich./Romeo HS) (Romeo HS / Romeo, MI).
"We are excited to see what the PNW men's team bring to the table this year. With a very young squad, we are eager to see who steps up and rises to the challenge," stated Coach Whittaker.
