Courtney makes strides in 2nd year at Simpson

Humboldt native Ryan Courtney continued to make big strides running for the Simpson College men’s cross country team this past season.
Courtney and his teammates closed out their season by placing 12th among 31 schools in the NCAA Division III Midwest Central Region meet held last Saturday, Nov. 10 at Waverly.
Courtney, a sophomore, finished 98th overall in 27:00.6, the second-fastest time of his collegiate career.
“We did well as a team. We ended up 12th, which was a little short of our goal, but the region was very deep this year and we were still proud of our effort and performance,” Courtney said.
“Personally I ran 27:006, which is my second-fastest time of my career. I was expecting more out of myself, but I’m really proud of how far I’ve come in the last year and really excited for the things to come.”
The Simpson program is growing under the leadership of coach Heath Moenck, a former Webster City standout runner. For the first time in school history, Simpson was ranked number eight in the U.S. Track & Field Coaches Association rankings for the central region back in mid-October.

“I’m definitely happy with how well I ran this past season. It has been a productive season. I’m happy with it and I’m excited to see what will happen this spring in track,” Courtney said.

Academically Courtney is majoring in Biology with plans to obtain a degree in secondary education.
“Things are going really well. I was on the Dean’s List last spring. I expect to be again this fall,” Courtney said. “I also made the conference all-academic team.”

See full story in this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent. Subscribe today for print/digital access by selecting the link on this page to get started!