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RIPON, Wis. - The 2013 Midwest Conference Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, November 2, 2013 at Oakland Acres Golf Club in Grinnell, Iowa. Grinnell College will host the event which will kick off with the women’s 6k championship at 11 a.m. and conclude with the men’s 8k run at 12:00 p.m.
A combined eight runners that finished in the top-10 last season return to complete for a MWC Individual Championship which includes five on the men’s side and three on the women’s. Both individual champions return with Frank Canady (Grinnell) and Sarah Burnell (Grinnell) coming back for their senior seasons as the only two runners who finished in the top five of their races in 2012. On the men’s side Curran Carlile represents Lawrence after a sixth place finish last season while Knox’s Gabe Moreno comes back after a 10th place finish. Nate Kolacia (eighth) and Sam Krauth (ninth) join Canady to give Grinnell a trio of runners in its quest to repeat as men’s champions. Along with Burnell Lawrence’s Clare Bruning (seventh) and St. Norbert’s Elvia Martinez (10th) are back after top-10 finishes on the women’s side where Monmouth took home the championship.
The Beloit men enter the championships after their second straight ninth place finish in 2012. The Bucs aim for their first conference championship in school history and the first individual championship since 1998. Joseph Skurski is the top runner for the men as his 8k time of 26:58 at the Wis. Private Schools Invitational is the 16th best in the league this season. Matej Jungwirth had a season-best time of 28:15 while Quinn Crawford finished the season with a time of 28:19 that both rank in the top-45 of the MWC. On the women’s side Beloit had a seventh place finish a year ago and will rely on Karen Jones who had a 40th place finish at the 2012 championships while her time of 24:05 at the Benedictine Invitational has her ranked 17th in the MWC. Sarah DeLong also contends as she ranks 42nd in the conference with a season-best time of 24:54 at the Wis. Private Schools Invitational.
Carroll finished fifth on the men’s side and sixth on the women’s side in 2012 and challenge for its first championship on either side since the 2000 season when the women were crowned champions. The men have a pair of runners ranked in the top-15 this season headlined by Dakota Pruitt and Adam Jorres. Pruitt finished 23rd at the 2012 championships and ranks fourth in the league this year with an 8k time of 25:52 while Jorres ranks 14th with a season-best time of 26:57 at the Brooks Invitational. Erika Garcia finished 39th last season and is ranked second on the Pioneers team with a top time of 23:23 in the 6k while teammate Amy Konkol is tops on the team, and is 24th in the league, with a time of 24:19. Taylor Albright is the third Pioneers runner to rank in the top-40 with a time of 24:50 which has her tabbed 39th entering the championships.
In its first year back in the MWC since the 1997 season Cornell picked up a seventh place finish on the men’s side and a fourth place women’s finish in 2012. For the men Lawrence Dennis finished in 25th place a year ago and ranks 28th in the conference during the regular season with a top-time of 27:43. Charles Mesimore (24th, 27:32) and Josh Lindsay (30th, 27:52) compliment Dennis as they both rank in the top-30 of the league as the Rams battle for their first individual champion since 1990 when Tony Every took home gold. The Cornell women look to make the jump for a championship for the first time since 1988 as they boast a roster of four runners that rank in the top-15 of the conference. Abrah Masterson holds the top time among runners in the 6k with a time of 22:43 in her freshman season. Sanjuanita ranks seventh (23:22) while teammate Laura Ettlin ranks eighth (23:22) after finishing 19th at the 2012 championships. The Rams also rely on Rachel Moline who rounds out the quartet of runners as she ranked 14th in the league (23:52).
Grinnell has captured at least a share of the men’s championship in 28 different seasons and have 17 championships on the women’s side entering the weekend. For the men Grinnell returns three runners that finished in the top-10 in 2012 including defending champion Fran Canady. Canady enters the championships with the fastest 8k time in the league at 25:07 and is followed by Ben Tyler (25:35) and Adam Dalton (25:44) in second and third place, respectively. Sam Krauth was a ninth place finisher a year ago and holds the seventh-best time this season while Nate Kolacia finished in eighth in 2012 and is ranked 11th entering the 2013 championship. Reigning women’s champion Sarah Burnell is back for the Pioneers and ranks second in the league with a 6k time of 22:49 while Grinnell has two other runners ranked in the top-10. Diana Seer ranks sixth in the conference with a time of 23:18 and finished 16th at the 2012 championships while Alosha Southern is fifth in this year’s rankings with a time of 23:07 as a freshman.
The Blueboys enter the championship weekend in search of the school’s first championship and are led by Sam Welbourne who enters ranked 21st in the league with an 8k time of 27:26 that he earned at the Illinois Col. Invitational. Tim Southerland finished 45th in the 2012 championships and ranks 46th in the conference after running the course at the Illinois Col. Invitational in 28:28 with Joshua Williams rounding out a strong trio of runners after posting a top-time of 28:50. Ana Flores leads the Lady Blues as she ranked ninth during the regular season with a time of 23:25 at the Illinois Col. Invitational after she finished the 2012 championships in 44th place. Jill Friedrich had the highest finished for any Illinois Col. women’s runner last season at 29th place and enters this year’s event with a top-time of 27:00 while Skye Mibbs is second on the team with a season-best time of 25:46.
The Knox men brought home a sixth place finish a year ago and returns one of the top runners in the league in search of the Prairie Fire’s first individual champion since 1932 when Roscoe Rullen was champion. Gabe Moreno posted a 10th place finish in 2012 and ran the fifth-fastest time in the regular season covering the 8k course at the Illinois Col. Invitational in 25:56 to lead Knox. Along with Moreno Brian Cole contends in his sophomore season after a season-best time of 27:21 that ranks him 19th while Victor Schultz aims to improve on his 34th place finish last season after running a 28:16 race at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. Elizabeth Reyes headlines the women’s team after a 21st place finish in 2012 and ended the regular season ranked 25th with a top 6k time of 24:21 at the Illinois Col. Invitational. Aly Eastman also helps pace the Prairie Fire women finish second on the team with a time of 25:31 at the Illinois Col. Invitational.
Lake Forest finished in eighth last season on the men’s side and looks to move up in the standings at the 2013 championships. The Foresters’ top runner on the men’s side, John Derry, has a season-best time of 27:32 that ranks 25th in the league. Teammate Joseph Bortolotti comes in as the team’s number two runner with a time of 27:45 that is 29th in the league. On the women’s side the Foresters return Viktoria Baldacci, who finished 27th in last year’s championships with a time of 24:33 and she matched that time this season, which ranks her 32nd in the league. Teammate Kristen Whitney is 15th in the conference at 24:01 and both Jenna Koerner and Andrea Lorch have posted a top time of 24:36 during the season, which ranks 34th in the MWC.
Last season the Lawrence men just missed on repeating as champions with a second-place finish and return three runners that are ranked in the top 10 of the league entering the weekend. James Brisbois headlines this year’s field as he ranks sixth in the league with an 8k time of 26:22 at the Brooks Invitational while the duo of Kyle Dockery (26:41) and Jonah Laursen (26:43) rank eighth and ninth, respectively. Curran Carlile finished sixth at last year’s championships and enters this year’s event ranking 26th while Dockery (21st) and Brisbois (26th) also had top-30 finishes at the 2012 championships. The Viking women had an eighth-place finish last season and aim for a league championship for the first time since the 2001 season. Clare Bruning competes for an individual championship after ranking 10th in the league with a 6k time of 23:27 while looking to improve on her seventh-place finish at the 2012 championships. Amy Hutchings ranks 12th as a freshman with a time of 23:47while Elizabeth Landes is right behind her in 13th with a time of 23:50.
In 2012 the Monmouth women’s team captured its second MWC Cross Country Championship and aims to repeat in 2013. The Fighting Scots lost their top three runners from last season but have a strong lineup heading into this year’s event led by Kyra Kimber who ranks third in the MWC with a season-best time of 22:59 at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. Alyssa Edwards nearly ran a top-10 time this season at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational when she covered the 6k course in 23:46 after finishing the 2012 championships in 15th place. The Monmouth men retooled this season after losing its top three runners from a year ago including the second and third place finishers at the 2012 championships. Deonta Motley holds the top time for the Fighting Scots in the 8k when he ran the course at the Les Duke Invitational in 28:10 while Joe Levita ran the same course in 28:34 to sit in the second spot on the team.
Ripon took a fifth place finish in the women’s race last season and aim for its first championship in school history when the race kicks off in Grinnell. Grace Winter comes back after finishing 17th at last year’s championships while she ran a season-best 28:07 at the Concordia Invitational earlier this year. Karla Perez is the Red Hawks top runner as she is ranks 21st in the league with a 6k time of 24:09 with Elizabeth Abitz ranking 37th in her freshman season with a time of 24:46. On the men’s side the Red Hawks look to move up in the standings after an 11th place finish last season. Rob Waters leads the Ripon runners after running in the Concordia Invitational where he covered the 8k field in 27:35 which ranks 26th in the league. Mike Allen joins Waters at the top of the Ripon charts with a time of 28:28 that he ran at the Concordia Invitational.
The St. Norbert men finished third last season and aim for a conference championship for the first time in school history. The Green Knights return a pair of runners that finished in the top-15 a year ago headlined by Michael Heise who finished 13th in 2012 and ranks 25th in the league this season with a time of 27:33. Benny Swift is the 13th ranked runner with a time of 26:51 while Nathan Heppe is 15th with a season-best time of 26:58. The women also return a talented lineup after a runner-up finish in 2012 including three top-15 performers from last year’s championships. Elvia Martinez ranks fourth this season with a 6k time of 23:05 after a 10th place finish last year while Charlotte Walsh is 15th in the league with a time of 24:04. Hannah Andrekus rounds out a strong trio after a 12th place finish last season and enters this year’s championships with a top-time of 24:31 that she ran at the Wisconsin Private Schools Meet.