5MOUNT VERNON, Ia. -- The Ripon cross country teams competed in the 2025 Midwest Conference Championship races this Saturday, Nov 1, with the men's team finishing in 4th place and the women finishing in 3rd. Sophomore Joley Berger (Dunbar, Wis., Pembine HS) would shatter the program record for the women's 6k, topping her previous record-setting performance this season by almost a minute. 

Berger's record setting performance accompanied a second place result, recording a time of 21:09.2. Berger became the first woman for the Red Hawks to run a sub-22 minute 6k, while senior teammate Jenny Cortes (Round Lake, Ill., Round Lake HS) became the second runner to do so less than a minute later, recording a time of 21:40.3 and a 4th place finish. Junior Gabby Allard (Appleton, Wis., Kimberly HS) also put together an all time performance, moving up to 5th on the Ripon All-Time PR list with a 22:11.3, good for tenth place in the event. The Red Hawks' final All-Conference finisher, junior Mya Garcia (Chino Hills, Calif., Brea Olinda HS), moves up the All-Time PR list with the 8th best in Red Hawks history, finishing in 18th place for the event with a time of 22:39.5.

 On the men's side, freshman Finn Lettau (Neenah, Wis., Neenah HS) crossed the line first for the Red Hawks, finishing just seconds ahead of senior teammate Jeremy Saloun (Portage, Wis., Portage HS). Lettau would finish in 14th and Saloun in 15th, recording times of 26:07.3 and 26:11.1 respectively, making the top-20 All-Conference cut off. The results also earn Lettau and Saloun the 15th and 16th spots on the Red Hawks All-Time PR list for the men's 8k.

The teams return to action with the Ripon-hosted Red Hawk Open, hosted at the Tuscumbia Golf Course on Thursday, Nov 6.