The North Park men’s and women’s cross country track and field teams conducted their second annual 24-hour Treadmill Relay in the newly opened Helwig Recreation Center from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 6 p.m. last Wednesday.
The teams raised $3,364 to help build a home for Habitat for Humanity in Tennessee over spring break. In all, 20 members of the team accumulated 193.59 miles on the treadmills, which is enough to run across the state of Illinois.
“It was tough for me in the last 10 minutes,” said North Park senior Don Fancher, a standout cross-country runner from Anchorage, Alaska. “I went as hard as I could in the last five minutes.”
Senior Amy Peters raised the most money – $900 – and freshman Matt Meyers ran the most miles – 4.68 in a 30-minute session.
“Everybody did a great job and we did it for a great cause,” North Park men’s cross country Coach Elliot Nott said. “Next year we’ll make it bigger and better. We hope to raise $5,000 and run 200 miles.”
In other sports roundup news:
• Austin Person, the senior goalkeeper for the Vikings men’s soccer team continues to rake in the honors. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) bestowed upon him the title of Academic All-American for the second straight season. In addition, NSCAA named him to the All-American third team for the first time as well.
• Person joins junior midfielder Isaac Lee, who was named a second-team All-American by D3kicks.com, on this year’s All-Americans’ list. This is the first season North Park has ever had two All-Americans in the same year.
• The North Park women’s basketball team held host Manhattanville College to 27 percent shooting on its way to a 64-46 win over the Valiants in the championship game of the 30th annual Castle Classic sponsored by Summerfield Suites on Sunday afternoon in Purchase, New York. Laura Mount led North Park with 13 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Evie Peterson followed with 12 points. Stylianee Damianides was named was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and she joined Laura Mount and Anna Mueller on the all-tournament team. North Park earned a spot in the title game after defeating Lehman College 56-47 Saturday afternoon. Peterson led the Vikings with 19 points and seven rebounds in that contest. North Park (5-1) returns to action Saturday, Dec. 16 when it travels to the University of Chicago for a 3 p.m. contest.
• The men’s basketball team already has begun the week by continuing its promising season start. The Vikings extended their winning streak to five on Monday night when they defeated Judson College 74-57. The men are now 7-2 on the season.
