CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ? The regular season came to an end on Saturday for the Indiana State men's and women's cross country teams, as they finished in third and fifth places respectively at the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship hosted by Northern Iowa at the Pheasant Ridge Golf Course.
Heading into the championship, ISU was looking to win its fourth-consecutive conference championship. However, the Sycamores ended up exactly where they were picked in the pre-championship poll in third place with 73 points. Pre-race favorite Southern Illinois ran to the team title with 35 points followed by Illinois State in second place with 52 points. Following the Sycamores in third place was Creighton in fourth with 137 points and Drake in fifth place with 147 points. Wichita State (154), Northern Iowa (157), Bradley (158) and Evansville (223) rounded out the pack.
Men's head coach John McNichols thought his team raced as well as it could on Saturday.
“Obviously we had expectations to finish higher in this race and wanted to keep our conference title streak alive,” said McNichols. “But, I'm pretty pleased with our finish in third place. Southern Illinois has been the team to beat all year and Illinois State has really improved. It's been a rough year for us injury wise and they kind of caught up with us today. I'm proud of the team and how they battled today and now we just need to focus on the upcoming regional meet.”
Sophomore Scott Keeney was the top finisher for ISU, as he ran to a seventh place finish with a time of 24:50. That earned him all-conference honors for the second year in a row, as he finished in eighth place finish in 2006. He was joined on the all-conference team this year by sophomore Randy Placencia, who finished in ninth place with a time of 24:52. Sophomore Eric Schulz (25:10) and freshman Michael Disher (25:25) also ran solid races, as the duo finished in the top 20 with 14th and 19th place finishes respectively. Senior and former all-conference runner Tony McDaniel rounded out the scoring for the Sycamores in 24th place with a time of 25:32.
“I'm really happy for Scott and Randy being named all-conference,” said McNichols. “They are both very young and for them to finish in the top 10 really says a lot for their future. Eric Schulz was also very competitive today and he will be back next season and should really help us out. We were very young this year, but we will have most of this team back next year and I think the conference will be up for grabs once again.”
In the women's 5k race, the Sycamores overcame their No. 7 pre-championship poll placing and ran to a fifth place finish as a squad with a team score of 136. Wichita State maintained its pre-race position as the favorite and raced to the conference championship with 47 points. The Shockers were followed by Missouri State in second place with 58 points and the host Northern Iowa Panthers in third place with 93 points. Illinois State finished ahead of the Sycamores in fourth place with 101 points to round out the top five. Drake (156), Southern Illinois (197), Bradley (199), Creighton (211) and Evansville (220) rounded out the field.
Women's head coach John Gartland was happy with the way his team fought to finish in the top half of the conference.
“For us to finish in fifth after being picked seventh in the pre-championship poll is quite an achievement,” said Gartland. “From top to bottom, we had some really good performances and that really speaks well for the upcoming Great Lakes Regional and for the future of this program.”
As they have been all season, the Sycamores were led by sophomore Kayla Alexander as she finished just outside the top ten in 11th place with a time of 17:52. She was followed closely by junior Heather Stembridge in 15th place with a time of 18:04. Senior Karla Negron (18:52, 35th), freshman Allison Malone (18:57, 36th) and Adriane Wunderlich (19:02, 39th) were separated by just ten seconds and ran well as a group to round out the scoring for the Sycamores and propel them to the fifth-place finish.
“Kayla has led us all year and it's a shame that she just missed out on being named an all-conference selection,” said Gartland. “Heather really stepped up today for us and ran to a 15th place finish. She's had to battle back from injury all year and she saved her best performance of the season for when we needed it the most. Also, the group of Karla, Allison and Adriane really ran well as a group and that solidified a top-five finish for us.”
The Sycamores will return to action on Saturday, November 10, at the Great Lakes Regional meet hosted by Indiana University. Action will begin at 11:00 a.m. with the men's 10k race at the Indiana Cross Country Course in Bloomington, Ind.
