MIAC Championships Preview

October 28th, 2004

A wide-open women’s team race and a battle of Northfield men’s squads figure to highlight the story lines when the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) stages the 2004 MIAC Cross Country Championships at St. Paul’s Como Park Golf Course.

The men’s race will crown the 57th team champion in conference history, and the winner looks to be a toss-up between Carleton College and St. Olaf College. The Knights are gunning for their fourth team title in the last 11 years while the Oles are search of their first title since 1976. Also watch for perennial champions University of St. Thomas and St. John’s University as darkhorse picks.

The women’s team race doesn’t feature any clear-cut favorites. Gustavus Adolphus College, the defending champion, won its first title ever in 2003, but likely will need to fend off Carleton, St. Olaf, Macalester College and St. Thomas. The Knights have won four races this season and finished second at the Griak Invitational. Macalester is having its best season in school history and is paced by the defending MIAC individual champion. St. Olaf has the deepest squad and the Gusties won’t let their title go without a fight.

Individually, the men’s race returns 11 of the 15 runners who earned All-MIAC honors a year ago by placing in the top 15 at the 2003 conference meet. St. Olaf’s Kelly Fulton is the top individual returnee, with Carleton senior Dan Bucy joining him as the only two-time all-conference peformer in the field. Other individual threats include St. Olaf junior Sam Hauck, St. Thomas senior Brock Stepan and Ole senior Malcolm Richards.

On the women’s side, a total of 10 returning all-conference runners return, including seven of the top eight finishers from a year ago. Much like the team race, any number of competitors could claim the crown. Macalester junior Koby Hagen aims to become only the fourth racer to repeat as women’s individual champion, but will have to hold off St. Thomas senior Nicole Gurgel, Gustavus senior Nichole Peterson, St. Benedict junior Leah Wurm, Bethel University sophomore Amy Lyons and Carleton senior Cassie Funke.

Men’s Team-by-Team Preview

Augsburg College aims to improve upon last year’s seventh-place MIAC championships finish. Dan Vogel, an all-region runner last season, has continued to show strong times, with an 8,000-meter best of 27:42 this year. Riley Conway produced the team’s top time earlier this year, with a 26:49.2 clocking. Erik Lundberg and Micah Lenthe have also shown improvement this year for the Auggies, with both moving into the 27-minute range for their times.

Bethel University is looking to move well up into the conference standings this year, after finishing only 10th in 2003. The men’s team is looking to finish 5th. David Borner and Adam Erickson are both running very strong and should lead the way. Both have an outstanding shot at all-conference honors.

Carleton enters the conference championships as one of the pre-race favorites and the highest-ranked MIAC squad in the latest NCAA Division III coaches poll. The Knights will be led by two-time All-MIAC performer Dan Bucy, who also qualified for the 2003 NCAA Championships. He finished fourth in last year’s race and is among the individual favorites as well. Senior Chris Lundburg was an All-MIAC runner a year ago, and he and Bucy could lead as many as four Knights in the top 15, including juniors Adam Williamson and Stephen Harris.

Concordia College is looking to improve on last year’s ninth-place finish at the MIAC Championships. The big news for the Cobbers will hopefully be made by Nick Myran, who is hoping to become the first back-to-back all-conference winner since 1992 when Jason Trichler accomplished the feat. Joining Myran at the top of the Cobber team list will be Ben Nylander. Nylander has steadily improved throughout the season and will be hoping to better last season’s 41st place finish at the meet. Rounding out the top five for Concordia should be Dan Bye, Scott Dinsen and Matt Putratz.

Gustavus Adolphus College returned its top seven runners from last season and has steadily improved throughout this fall. First-year head coach Jed Friedrich is extremely excited for the conference race. “The men have a strong desire to run well at this meet and are prepared to reach new heights,” Friedrich commented. The Gusties are led by Alex Zupan and team captains Brent Magnusson and James Sorenson. Zupan has clearly established himself as the top runner for the Gusties. The sophomore has finished first for Gustavus in all six races this fall and has an excellent chance to become the first all-conference runner for the men’s team in five years.

Hamline University looks for a strong showing the MIAC Championships after placing sixth as a team last season. The Pipers return their top six runners from a year ago. The trio of Jeff Metzdorff, Tony Klappa and Travis Bristow finished last year’s race in 21st, 22nd, and 23rd place, respectively. The Pipers had a strong showing at the Jim Drews Invitational two weeks ago, where they placed 12th out of 21 schools – ahead of five other MIAC schools.

Macalester College is having its best season in years and the veteran Scot team is confident about moving up from last year’s fourth-place conference finish after an impressive 10th-place showing at the UW-La Crosse Jim Drews Invitational. All-MIAC senior Bo Rydze has been the team’s top runner in every race this season and is expected to be among the conference leaders again. Three honorable mention All-MIAC performers join Rydze in the lineup: Roscoe Sopiwnik, Eric Olson and Jordan Selbo. Dylan Keith also is having a good season and has been the team’s No. 2 runner the past two meets.

St. John’s University enters the 2004 MIAC Championships trying to improve on its fifth place finish from 2003. SJU returns three of seven runners who scored points for the Johnnies at last year’s MIAC Championships. Junior Tim Smit has been the top-placing SJU runner in four races this fall. Smit finished 11th with a time of 26:15 to earn All-MIAC honors at last year’s MIAC Championships and finished 27th at the NCAA Regional Championships with a time of 25:46 to earn all-region honors. Other top runners for the Johnnies this fall have been sophomore Jeff Lundgren, freshman Darren Larsen, freshman Kelly Fermoyle and freshman Chris Erichsen. The Johnnies won four consecutive MIAC Championships from 1996-99 and placed in the top-16 in the country six times since 1995. The Johnnies are coached by Tim Miles, a 1976 graduate of St. John’s, who is in his 26th season as head coach in 2004 and has 20 top-two MIAC finishes.

St. Mary’s University hopes to build on a solid 2004 campaign by improving on last year’s team finish. Andy Boisjolie has been the Cardinals’ top runner in all six meets.

St. Olaf College is looking for their first conference title in 28 years and Coach Bill Thornton has good reason to believe this could be the year. The Oles have won two of the three races they’ve run this year, the 23-team Pre-Nationals Meet Invite in Colfax, Wis., and the 11-squad St. Olaf Invite, and they finished ahead of the eight MIAC schools at the Jim Drews Invite in La Crosse, Wis. Malcolm Richards, Kelly Fulton and Sam Hauck lead the charge for the Oles. Richards won the St. Olaf Invite and finished fourth in the Pre-Nationals Meet.

University of St. Thomas has won the MIAC men’s team cross country championship three of the last four years and 18 of the last 26 seasons. But the unranked 2004 Tommie squad enters the conference meet somewhat under the radar, with St. Olaf or Carleton carrying the favorite’s tag and Macalester also looking tough this October. UST 12-year coach Pete Wareham has just one senior in his top five, which in part explains the Tommies’ inconsistency. St. Thomas has yet to get all seven runners clicking together in one race and is obviously looking for a breakthrough team performance. Senior Brock Stepan (6th in 2003 MIAC), junior John Schwerkoske (8th MIAC), and sophomore Will Hawthorne (14th MIAC) have been UST’s top three runners, and are returning All-MIAC honorees. Freshman Neil Atzinger, juniors Derek Harmon and Colin Sullivan, and senior Jeff Goeden round out the Toms’ top seven. The Tommies traditionally run well on the Como Golf Course layout – they’ve averaged 10 top-45 MIAC finishers over the last four seasons.

Women’s Team-by-Team Preview

Augsburg College has had a solid season, entering the MIAC Championships with hopes to improve upon last year’s 11th-place finish. The Auggies have been led by returning All-MIAC runner Ellen Waldow, who became the first Auggie runner to crack the 23-minute barrier over 6,000 meters earlier this season (22:58.1). She has had five top-15 individual finishes this year. Augsburg runners have recorded 26 personal-best times this season, with runners Angela Bergeson, Hannah Dietrich and Rebecca Welle showing strong improvement this year.

Bethel University hopes to move up several places in the MIAC, but its main focus will be on running a combined total for the top five runners that will be one of the best in Bethel history.

Carleton College has been the biggest surprise of the 2004 season, and the youthful Knights hope to continue this trend at the conference meet. The Knights are the highest-ranked MIAC team in the latest coaches poll and have won four events and finished second at the Griak Invitational, besting a number of MIAC schools in one of the region’s most prestigious meets. Carleton is paced by senior Cassie Funke, who should finish in the top five individually, and classmate Laura Hudson. Junior Becky Schaumberg brings valuable big-race experience as a member of the 2002 team that qualified for the NCAA Championships. Outside of this trio, the Knights will rely on rookies Katherine Wingert and Meghan Miller for strong finishes as the Knights seek their first MIAC title since 1991.

Concordia College will be predictably unpredictable at this year’s MIAC Championships. The predictable part of Marv Roeske’s team will be frontrunner Natalie Hanson. Hanson has led the Cobbers in all six of their meets this season. She will be looking to improve on last year’s 44th place finish. The unpredictable nature of the Cobbers will come in their team finish. Concordia has a chance to finish anywhere from fourth to 10th place. In their last meet, the Carleton Invitational, Concordia beat conference foes St. Thomas and St. Olaf. Rounding out the top four individuals for Concordia should be Jennifer St. John, Julie Miller and Alissa Bilden.

Gustavus Adolphus College is set to defend its 2003 MIAC title. First-year head coach Jed Friedrich is confident that the women will race well at the conference meet. “There are probably four or five teams who have a legitimate chance of winning the championship. We are fortunate to have a strong group of seniors with a lot of championship experience,” Friedrich commented. The Gusties will be led by team captains and seniors Nichole Petersen, Ali Cordie and Tasha Pike. Petersen, a three-time all-conference selection, has finished first for the Gusties in all five races she competed in this fall. First-year runners Lydia Davitt, Val Berquam and Laura Edlund also are expected to make an impact at the conference race for the Gusties.

Hamline University hopes to build on a seventh place finish in last year’s MIAC Championships. The Pipers return all-conference performer Keidra Anderson, who ran last year’s race in 19:13. Also returning for the Pipers is sophomore Lacee Schrupp. Schrupp was 38th in her first MIAC Championship.

Macalester College, ranked 23rd in the latest NCAA Division III coaches poll, is having one of its best seasons ever and should contend for a high finish. Defending MIAC individual champion Koby Hagen has been returning to form lately and leads the way for the Scots. She placed 11th at the Tori Neubauer Invitational and two weeks earlier took eighth at the UW-Eau Claire Pre-National Meet. Francie Streich has been the team’s number two runner all season and is a top all-conference contender. The Scots have had good depth all season, usually getting strong races from runners like Anna Gordon, Emily Stafford, Allie Woerpel and Anna Shamey.

The College of St. Benedict will be led by returning All-MIAC runners Leah Wurm, Megan Rose and Nancy Buselmeier. The team hopes to move up from last year’s fifth place finish.

The College of St. Catherine is looking to improve on last year’s 12th place MIAC finish. First-year runner Rachel DeDeyn has led the team all season long. Returners Briggs Rolfsrud, Havila Brisbois and Nikki Burg are running well and will be key contributors for St. Kate’s.

St. Mary’s University is looking to improve on last year’s finishes — and if their performances through the regular-season are any indication, they should do just that. Ellen Koranda and Tera Bollig have been the team’s top runners all season. Koranda, a national qualifier in outdoor track and field last season, missed the first meet of the year due to a nagging injury, but has slowly been working her way back into top form.

St. Olaf College may be a sleeper in this year’s MIAC Championships. The Oles have posted a number of strong finishes this year, including a team title at the Carleton’s Opener, second at the St. Olaf Invite, third at the Roy Griak Invite and the the overall title at the Dan Huston Invite in Waverly, Iowa. The foursome of Stephanie Block, Kezia Manlove, Erin Weier and April Graves lead the Oles, who will try to win their ninth MIAC crown.

University of St. Thomas coach Joe Sweeney, in his 25th year, returns three-time All-MIAC performer Nicole Gurgel and track All-American Brigid Power, an All-MIAC honoree last season who also qualified for the NCAA Championships. Sweeney, who has coached UST cross country and track teams to 50 MIAC team championships, returns six of his top seven runners from last fall, when the Tommies took third in the MIAC and sixth in the regionals. Power had a breakout season in 2003-2004, qualifying for the national cross country meet, sweeping the MIAC indoor track 1,500- and 1,000- meter events and qualifying for nationals in the 800 meters. She placed eighth in the outdoor 1,500 at the national meet as well. Junior Chelsea Guettinger is back after just missing All-MIAC honors last year with a 19th place finish. Sophomore Jenny Olin placed 35th in the regional as a freshman and will look to carry the momentum from that performance into 2004. Also watch for seniors Beth Magnuson and Natalie Stork and juniors Brittany Dusich and Ronni Hamilton.

Back to 2004 MIAC Cross Country Championships