| Wendy Pavlus, right, repeated as champ, while
Anders Hulleberg brought home the top spot and Walnut and Bronze
for his team. |
For the second consecutive year, St. Lawrence’s Wendy
Pavlus stood atop the podium by winning the NCAA Division III
national cross country championship at the Max Cross County Course
hosted by Wartburg.
“I had to go strong – it felt everyone was right there
with me the whole time. I feel like this one means more as a senior
... you can appreciate it more than as a junior,” said
Pavlus. The senior crossed the finish line stopping the clock
with a time of 20:49.3, bettering last season’s championship
time by more than 39 seconds. She finished 11 seconds ahead of
second-place finisher sophomore Jennifer Gossels of Williams in
21:00.8.
Rounding out the overall top three on the women’s side was
senior Jenny Scherer of St. Norbert, with a time of 21:08.9.
Middlebury took home the women’s team championship with 185
points, the sixth overall for the women’s program in school
history. The Panthers accomplished the team title utilizing depth
among runners lead by freshman Collete Whitney with a 24th-place
finish (21:52.8) and sophomore Addie Tousley in 29th (21:57.4).
Rounding out the scorers were juniors Margo Cramer (31st, 21:58.9),
Hannah Meier (47th, 22:12.4), and Claire McIlvennie (54th,
22:18.8).
In the team race, Washington U. and MIT finished second and third
followed by UW-Eau Claire, Williams, Luther, Johns Hopkins,
Amherst, Calvin and Chicago.
The host Wartburg Knights posted a 14th-place showing in the
women’s team race with 415 points. Pacing the Knights and
garnering All-American status was senior Lori Tlach with a
17th-place showing in a time of 21:40.8.
On the men’s side, Haverford's Anders Hulleberg sprinted to
the NCAA Division III cross country championship in 24:22.2.
“I just wanted to get out front and not go too hard
early,” said Hulleberg. “I felt like, if I ran a good
race, I could be competitive. As we got to the end, I just kicked
as hard as I could. It’s a great feeling.”
Hulleberg led the Fords to the 2010 NCAA Division III cross
country team championships as all five scoring runners finished
ahead of the All-America cut (35th-place). Senior Chris Southwick
was 16th (team scoring place) in a time of 24:43.5 and senior Lucas
Fuentes was close behind in 18th (24:45.6). Sophomore Jordan
Schilit finished 25th (24:52.2) and junior Eric Arnold closed out
the scoring positions for Haverford posting a time of 24:53.9 for a
27th-place team scoring finish.
North Central (Ill.), the two-time defending team champion,
finished second with 104 points followed by St. Lawrence,
UW-Platteville, Dickinson, UW-Stevens Point, Geneseo State, Calvin,
Washington U. and New York University.
Mike Spain, a senior, was North Central’s highest finisher,
crossing the line in the runner-up spot for the second-straight
year behind Hulleberg in 24:24.6.
Finishing behind Hulleberg and Spain in the top 10 were St.
Lawrence’s Steve Kiplagat, UW-Oshkosh’s Nate Stymeist,
Geneseo State’s Lee Berube, UW-Stevens Point’s Terry
Witkowski, Geneseo State’s Ryan O’Connor,
Elizabethtown’s Eric Reichert, St. Lawrence’s John
Johnston and Allegheny’s Jeramie Parker.