Lemi Wutz named NAIA Runner of the Week
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 13, 2021) – Milligan University graduate student Lemi Wutz was honored as the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week, the association announced Wednesday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 13, 2021) – Milligan University graduate student Lemi Wutz was honored as the NAIA Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, the association announced Wednesday.
Wutz posted a 17:13 5k time in rainy conditions at the Royals Challenge on Friday. She finished fourth overall in a field of 300 runners that included four NCAA Division I teams and three nationally-ranked NAIA Division II teams.
As a team at the, the No. 2 Buffs placed three runners in the top 11 and took second overall out of 29 teams. Alyssa Bearzi took eighth in 17:37 and Avery DeWolf Burton set a personal-best time of 17:43 to finish 11th. Bearzi ranks third on the Buffs' all-time 5k leaderboard and Burton is fourth.
Wutz is in the midst of one of the most prolific cross country seasons in team history. She's posted 5k times of 17:17, 17:08 and 17:13 in three outings as a Buff. Entering the year, Milligan's only woman to ever post sub-17:30 times was four-time NAIA national champion and 2016 NAIA cross country national runner-up Hannah Segrave.
Wutz's 17:08 effort at the same McAlpine Creek Park course in Charlotte two weeks before Friday night matched Segrave's all-time team 5k record.
Milligan cross country finishes up its regular season at the second annual NAIA Southeast Classic, hosted by South Carolina Beaufort on Oct. 23.