Champion Yellowjackets top UMAC men's cross country awards list
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The University of Wisconsin-Superior captured its third-straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's cross country championship title and was rewarded with six individuals earning all-conference accolades Monday, while individual champion Isaac Boedigheimer of the College of St. Scholastica topped the list of 16 student-athletes recognized.
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Men's Results |
Championship Site |
Boedigheimer broke away late in the UMAC championship race Saturday to take first place by nearly 17 seconds completing the 8,000-meter course with a time of 26:11.7 for his first individual title in just his second collegiate season.
Under the direction of Head Coach Glen Drexler, the Yellowjackets were nearly untouchable scoring just 32 points which was 28 better than runner-up St. Scholastica. For his efforts leading the 'Jackets, Drexler was recognized by his peers as the UMAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season.
In addition to Boedigheimer, 15 other UMAC student-athletes were recognized for their finishes in Benson, Minnesota, Saturday. All-UMAC First Team honors were awarded to the top eight finishers while the next eight were honored with All-UMAC Second Team nods.
The Yellowjackets led the pack with six honorees finishing in the top 16 and four in the top seven. Rand Bieri, Harrison Hirsch and Zachary Mazurek were all repeat All-UMAC finishers, and Bieri, Hirsch and Koski have now each been All-UMAC honorees three times in their careers.
Second-place St. Scholastica totaled three awards including Boedigheimer, while fourth-place Martin Luther College had three finishers earn Second Team recognition including Ben Bitter and Ryan Gurgel for the third year in a row for both runners.
The University of Minnesota Morris earned third and was the only other team with at least two all-conference finishers including Ryan Anderson who was the individual runner-up.
Martin Luther won the team sportsmanship award for the second-straight year, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
2018 Individual Champion - Isaac Boedigheimer, St. Scholastica
Coach of the Year - Glen Drexler, Wisconsin-Superior
2018 UMAC Men's Cross Country All-Conference First Team
| Place |
Name |
School |
Time |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| 1st |
Isaac Boedigheimer |
St. Scholastica |
26:11.7 |
So. |
Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet |
| 2nd |
Ryan Anderson |
Minnesota Morris |
26:28.0 |
Jr. |
Bellevue, Idaho/Wood River |
| 3rd |
Jordan Koski |
Wisconsin-Superior |
26:43.6 |
Sr. |
Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon |
| 4th |
Harrison Hirsch |
Wisconsin-Superior |
26:50.1 |
Jr. |
Vadnais Heights, Minn./Mounds View |
| 5th |
Micah Filer |
North Central |
27:09.1 |
Fy. |
Sacramento, Calif./Capital Christian |
| 6th |
Ryan Steger |
St. Scholastica |
27:11.5 |
So. |
Eagan, Minn./Eagan |
| 7th |
Edward Carlson |
Wisconsin-Superior |
27:17.4 |
So. |
South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul |
| 8th |
Rand Bieri |
Wisconsin-Superior |
27:25.3 |
Sr. |
Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet |
2018 UMAC Men's Cross Country All-Conference Second Team
| Place |
Name |
School |
Time |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| 9th |
Eric Melendez |
Northwestern |
27:27.7 |
Sr. |
Richfield, Minn./Eagle Ridge Academy |
| 10th |
Zachary Mazurek |
Wisconsin-Superior |
27:34.4 |
Sr. |
Bessemer, Mich./Bessemer |
| 11th |
Ethan Carter |
Martin Luther |
27:35.2 |
So. |
Eleva, Wis./Luther Prep |
| 12th |
Ben Bitter |
Martin Luther |
27:35.3 |
Jr. |
Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran |
| 13th |
Benjamin Barnack |
Minnesota Morris |
27:38.4 |
Jr. |
Lonsdale, Minn./Tri-City United |
| 14th |
Max Botz |
St. Scholastica |
27:41.6 |
Fy. |
St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo |
| 15th |
Henry Seeb |
Wisconsin-Superior |
27:47.8 |
So. |
Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater |
| 16th |
Ryan Gurgel |
Martin Luther |
27:51.0 |
Jr. |
Thiensville, Wis./Kettle Morraine Lutheran |
2018 UMAC Men's Cross Country Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award - Martin Luther
Bethany Lutheran - Stefan Prince, Jr., Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake
Crown - Cody Lasnetski, So., Willmar, Minn.
Martin Luther - Ryan Gurgel, Jr., Thiensville, Wis./Kettle Morraine Lutheran
Minnesota Morris - Benjamin Barnack, Jr., Lonsdale, Minn./Tri-City United
North Central - Brody Elg, Sr., Virginia, Minn./Virginia
Northland - Nick Kunce, Fy., Freemont, Neb./Freemont
Northwestern - Cameron Larson, Fy., Long Prairie, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
St. Scholastica - Isaac Boedigheimer, So., Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet
Wisconsin-Superior - Rand Bieri, Sr., Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet