http://www.miac-online.org/news/2011/10/20/WXC_1020112326.aspx

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, Oct. 29, with the two teams from Northfield expected to battle it out for the title along with an extremely talented field competing for individual honors.

Saturday's race will be held at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn., for the 14th consecutive season. The women's 6K race will begin at 2:15 p.m., followed by the men's race, which begins at 3:15 p.m. Saint Mary's University is the host school for 2011 MIAC Cross Country Championships, which welcomes back 10 of the top 15 runners from a year ago.

St. Olaf (2010) and Carleton (2009) have won the last two MIAC titles, and the cross-town rivals are the hands-down favorites to go head-to-head for the 2011 crown as well. The Oles claimed last year's crown thanks largely to a pair of its runners claiming the top two spots, and another wave coming in strong between 15 and 22. The good news for the defending champs? Most of that talent is back.

Defending champion Maren Westby returns to try for a second-straight title after winning the 2010 race as a junior with a time of 22:00.7. However, teammate Emma Lee was only one second behind Westby at 22:01.7 to result in a thrilling final stretch, and a team title for the Oles. Another Ole, Sophie Pietrick, also earned All-MIAC honors with a 15th-place finish and that trio is back to lead St. Olaf again in 2011.

The Oles enter as the MIAC's highest-ranked team, both in the Central Region and in all of Division III. Head Coach Chris Daymont's team is ranked No. 1 in the Region and No. 11 in the nation thanks to an impressive run this fall, but Carleton isn't far behind. The Knights are the only other MIAC team in the national rankings at No. 23, and they're currently ranked third in the Central Region. Carleton finished third a year ago after winning the 2009 MIAC title.

The MIAC has three other teams ranked in the Central Region's Top 10, starting with No. 6 St. Thomas, which finished three points ahead of Carleton to claim second place at last year's MIAC meet. The Tommies return two All-MIAC runners to make them a contender again as well. Just behind UST is No. 7 Saint Benedict, which finished sixth at last year's MIAC Championships and enters the 2011 race as one of the teams poised to make a jump in the standings. Gustavus is also in the Central Region Top 10 at No. 8, and the Gusties bring back three All-MIAC performers as they look to improve on last year's fourth-place finish and challenge for a spot in the top three.

Bethel finished fifth a year ago to round out the top five, but the Royals will field almost an entirely new team at this year's conference race. Hamline finished seventh, Concordia was eighth, Macalester finished ninth, Saint Mary's was 10th, St. Catherine finished 11th and Augsburg rounded out the 12-team field in 2010. However a number of teams that finished in the bottom half of the standings have been impressive this fall and could make a leap up at this year's MIAC Championships.

While the race for the team title will certainly be intriguing, it should be complemented nicely Saturday by the battle for the individual championship and All-MIAC honors. The top four runners all return from last year's meet meaning there's certainly strength at the top, and several other runners have improved since last year and could challenge the favorites in 2011 as well. The Top 15 individual finishers earn All-MIAC honors, with places 16-25 receiving Honorable Mention.

While St. Olaf's duo of Westby and Lee are certainly among the favorites again after last year's 1-2 finish, a lot of eyes will also be fixed on Carleton senior Simone Childs-Walker, to see if the Knights' star can end her tremendous career with a conference title. Childs-Walker has finished in the top three in each of her first three MIAC Championship appearances, finishing second a sophomore and third as a freshman and a junior. The two-time cross country All-American will no doubt want to go out on top and punctuate a spectacular senior season with another top-three finish or even an individual title. Fellow Carleton senior Alison Smyth finished eighth a year ago to earn All-MIAC honors as well, and along with Childs-Walker, she'll be one of the key's to Carleton's championship hopes.

St. Thomas' Taylor Berg also returns after finishing fourth behind the three Northfield runners a year ago. Berg earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors as a freshman prior to last season's impressive performance, and this season she'll return as one of the favorites once again. Berg is joined by sophomore Erin Statz, who was the top freshman finisher a year ago in 10th place. The talented duo will lead the Tommies, who hope to figure in the title picture with St. Olaf and Carleton again this season.

The other three returning All-MIAC runners all hail from Gustavus as junior Kate Eggers finished seventh in 2010, senior Kim Rostvold was 11th and junior Elizabeth Hauer came in 13th. With another year of experience and last year's great performance to draw from, the Gusties' talented trio will try to lead their team to another top-four finish, or even a leap into the top three.

One new twist at this year's race is a service project headed up by the Bethel cross country teams and Head Coach Jim Timp. The Royals are collecting old running shoes for a non-profit organization called GreenSneakers EcoChallenge for Education. GreenSneakers provides the used shoes to places in the world where people have an otherwise hard time attaining them. There will be bins at Como Park Golf Course Saturday to collect the shoe donations to contribute to this unique and relevant service project.

The MIAC Championships will conclude with a short awards ceremony to honor the team and individual champions and All-Conference runners near the clubhouse following the end of the men's race. The MIAC has a Web page dedicated to the event, and complete results, recaps, photos and more will be available on that site following the event. Webcast America will also be offering on-demand video highlights of both races following the event on its Web site.

The MIAC would like to thank Saint Mary's for its effort in hosting this year's meet, Como Park Golf Course, Webcast America and Twin Cities Orthopedics, which will provide on-site athletic training and medical services.

Links:

2011 MIAC Cross Country Championships Website
2011 MIAC Men's Cross Country Championship Preview
2011 MIAC Women's Cross Country Composite Schedule
USTFCCCA Division III Cross Country Rankings

Team-by-Team Previews: AUG | BU | CAR | CON | GAC | HU | MAC | CSB | SCU | SMU | STO | UST | 

Courtesy of MIAC