UMAC Cross Country Championships dash off on Saturday
ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. -- Crown College will play host to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Cross Country Championships this Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 as nine men’s teams and eight women’s teams compete for the league title. Saturday’s course will take runners through hills and wooded areas along Crown’s 215-acre campus.
This year’s women’s championship will commence at 12 p.m., while the men will follow at 1 p.m.
The College of St. Scholastica women’s team will look to defend its current streak of eight straight UMAC titles on Saturday. Katelyn Meger, Jessie Lovering and Tara Connolly finished 1-2-3 in the 2008 UMAC individual standings. Meger, a 2008 NCAA qualifier, has not lost a step this season as she has led the Saints in every race this year. The junior is coming off of a season-best time of 22:12 at last week’s UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational.
Northwestern College, last year’s second place team, won its season-opening race on Sep. 1. The Eagles are led by Rachel Grammer, who finished the 2008 UMAC Championship in seventh place. Grammer’s best finish this season is 24:49 at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational.
The University of Minnesota, Morris women’s squad received a considerable boost this season when the Cougars landed prized-recruit Linda Keller. Keller has not disappointed, winning every one of the team’s races this season except for the Roy Griak Invitational where she placed fifth, the highest finish for a UMAC runner in that race since Desiree Budd of St. Scholastica won it in 2002. Keller is joined by fellow UMAC Player of the Week Kacy Kehowig, who ran a season-best 24:39 at the Concordia (Minn.) Cobber Invitational.
North Central University, who finished its first year of UMAC associate membership last year with a fourth place finish in the women’s race, is paced by the school’s 6k record-holder, Catherine Mead. Mead, a UMAC Player of the Week who placed 11th in last year’s conference race, ran a time of 24:45 at the Crown College Invitational.
Hannah Fanney hopes to lead Northland College to a UMAC victory on Saturday, but her task won’t be easy as the LumberJills’ are comprised of a pair of sophomores and many freshmen. Fanney’s best finish this season was a 26:20 at the Wisconsin Private College Championships.
Martin Luther College seeks to improve on its sixth-place finish in last year’s race. Lead runner Libby Haasch knows Saturday’s course fairly well, as her season’s best time of 25:01 came at the Crown College Invitational. The sophomore will also look to repeat her all-conference bid from last year when she finished fifth in the UMAC championship.
Host Crown College returns six runners from 2008 when the Storm placed seventh in the conference meet. Summer Pfaff has led Crown all season and has a season-best time of 26:06 at the Tori Neubauer Invitational at UW-La Crosse.
Bethany Lutheran College, who enters the UMAC Championship for the first time in 2009 as a varsity team, is led by Brittany Rogers. Rogers’ time of 26:27 at the Tori Neubauer Invitational at UW-La Crosse is the team’s best thus far in a new program as the Vikings look to establish both team and individual success.
On the men’s side, Martin Luther College will look to defend its title from a year ago when all five of the Knights’ qualifying runners placed in the race’s Top 15. 2009 UMAC Player of the Week Nathan Loersch, the 2008 men’s individual conference champion, will lead a different team this year as Martin Luther lost three of its top five runners from a year ago. Loersch’s best time this year was a 27:10 at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational.
Northwestern College, who finished second in last year’s championship race and first in 2007, has a new look this season as four of the team’s top five runners are in their first year of competition. Derek Schlager has led the Eagles’ attack in three of the team’s first four races this season and has a personal best of 27:49 on an 8k course, which will be the championship course’s distance on Saturday.
The College of St. Scholastica, who won the league trophy in 2006, looks to return to championship form at this year’s event. Nick Mangan has led the Saints in their first five races of the season, while St. Scholastica had three runners (Pat Bigaouette, Mangan and Tony Bye) all finish last week’s UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational in under 27 minutes.
In just its third year of running, the University of Minnesota, Morris men’s team has made great strides in 2009, capturing its first-ever win at the Crown Invitational before winning the Martin Luther Invitational one month later. Once high school teammates, Luke Toso and Andrew Rehmann have paced the Cougars this season. The juniors finished 1-2 for Morris at last year’s conference championship, and hope to lead their team to a league title on Saturday.
In its second year of UMAC competition, North Central University is led by Daniel Bare, a 2009 UMAC Player of the Week whose best finish this season was a 26:54 at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational. As a team, North Central, who finished fifth in last year’s championship, won its first meet of the season at the four-mile Bassett Creek Early Bird Invitational.
First-year runner Joseph Zant leads a Northland College men’s squad that has three members with times under 30 minutes for the first time in five years. Zant has the LumberJacks’ best time this season as he ran a 28:38 at the Wisconsin Private College Championships.
Crown College’s men’s team, which placed seventh in last year’s finale, should know the course well as they host this year’s meet. Newcomer Mike Palmer has Crown’s best 8k time this season, running the course at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational in 28:27.
Presentation College, last year’s eighth place team, is under first-year head coach Matt Walberg. Halden VanWhye and Blake Spindler both ran their best races of the season, posting times of 32:00 and 33:16 at the Concordia (Minn.) Cobber Invitational.
Bethany Lutheran College’s men’s team, who, like its women’s team is in its first year of varsity competition, has seen vast improvement from the beginning of the year. Matthew Behmer has consistently been the Vikings’ top finisher and has the team’s best time of the season at 27:08 at the Jim Drews Invitational at UW-La Crosse.
For more information about the UMAC Cross Country Championships, click here.