ASHLAND, Neb. - Continuing in the early-season tuneup schedule for Highland, Tara Ozinga trimmed nearly 40 seconds off her collegiate debut time for the Scotties at the Platte River Rumble Gold. The HCC men also showed improvement nearly across the board, with Cayden Crabtree joining David Welchert in the sub-six-minute pace club against a stacked field of NCAA Division I and Division II competition.

Ozinga was again involved in a finishing chute battle, and despite being edged out at the line by Rebecca Duran from Indian Hills CC, the duo outpaced University of South Dakota redshirt Mariah Fenske down the stretch. Ozinga posted a time of 19:07.7, just 0.3 behind Duran and a full second ahead of Fenske.

Crabtree shaved more than a minute off his time from the Bob Timmons Rim Rock Classic, finishing the 6k in 22:03.5 with a per-mile improvement of 20 seconds. Welchert trimmed 15 seconds off of his 6k time, while Marcal Myles turned in the biggest week-over-week improvement for HCC, clearing 1:44 off his 6k time.

Highland's next meet is a bit closer to home, as the Scotties will race in the Griffon Invitational hosted by Missouri Western State University on Saturday, Oct. 4. The women's 5k is set for an 8 a.m. start, with the men's race to start at 9 a.m.

Women's 5k Individual Results
54 - Tara Ozinga 19:07.7 (6:09.4/mi)

Men's 6k Individual Results
105 - David Welchert 21:34.3 (5:47.1)
107 - Cayden Crabtree 22:03.5 (5:55.0)
111 - Nathan Johnson 24:20.7 (6:31.7)
114 - Marcal Myles 26:50.8 (7:12.0)

Full results - TFRRS