http://www.miac-online.org/news/2011/10/20/MXC_1020113213.aspx
ST. PAUL, Minn. --
The 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's
Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Oct., 29,
with plenty of intriguing storylines. However, the most prevalent
is whether or not Hamline University will repeat the sheer
dominance of its 2010 performance in its quest for a third-straight
championship.
Saturday's race will be held at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul,
Minn., for the 14th consecutive season. The men's 8K race will
begin at 3:15 p.m., following the women’s race at 2:15 p.m.
Saint Mary's University is the host school for 2011 MIAC Cross
Country Championships, which welcomes back 11 of the top 15 runners
from a year ago.
In 2010, the men's field appeared to be highly competitive heading
into the championships, until Hamline stunned the large crowd in a
blaze of maroon and silver. The Pipers - led by individual champion
Devin Monson - claimed four of the top six places
and five of the 15 All-Conference spots en route to a comfortable
win. The scary thing is, this year, Head Coach Paul
Schmaedeke's team could be even better.
The Pipers enter as the prohibitive favorites, and headline two
MIAC teams in the national rankings and five ranked in the Top 10
in the Central Region. Hamline is ranked No. 25 in Division III and
No. 2 in the Region, and has had several jaw-dropping team
performances this fall, led by Monson and fellow senior
Jack Deichert, who finished fourth at last year's
MIAC Championships. St. Olaf will be the Pipers chief competition
as the Oles hold the No. 32 ranking in the nation and are just a
spot behind Hamline at No. 3 in the Region Top 10. St. Olaf was the
runner-up last year, and the last team other than the Pipers to win
a MIAC title in 2008.
Saint John's, which claimed back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007,
will also be trying to unseat Hamline and finish in the Top 3 once
again. The Johnnies were third a year ago and are ranked sixth in
the Central Region. St. Thomas and Bethel finished fourth and fifth
a year ago, respectively, and appear in the Region rankings. The
Tommies are currently ranked No. 8 and the Royals are a spot back
at No. 9 in the Central Region Top 10.
Rounding out last year's field was Carleton in sixth, Concordia in
seventh, Gustavus in eighth, this year's host Saint Mary's in
ninth, Augsburg at No. 10 and Macalester rounding out the field at
No. 11. Concordia and Saint Mary's both have some talented runners
back in their lineups, and are among the candidates from this
group, along with Carleton, to make a jump into the upper echelon
of the final standings.
While it will be interesting to see how the team race plays out -
and whether any of the contenders can threaten Hamline's three-peat
chances - the race for the individual championship and
All-Conference honors should create the day's real drama with an
unbelievably strong field of veteran runners. The Top 15 individual
finishers earn All-MIAC honors, with places 16-25 receiving
Honorable Mention.
Monson won last year's race with a time of 25:38.7 and he'll be
among the favorites again this year, but there are several other
seniors in the field who could make just as strong a case for their
chances at finishing first. Among them are Monson's teammate,
Diechert, who has several strong performances this fall in addition
to his fourth-place finish last year. The Pipers also return
All-MIAC runners Colin Rogers (fifth in 2010) and
senior Ellis Richardson (15th).
Also contending for the individual title will be seniors
Tom Sederquist of Concordia and St. Thomas'
Ben Sathre. Sederquist was the runner-up to Monson
in last year's race and has long been one of the league's top
runners, so another Top-3 finish or even a conference title would
be a fitting conclusion to his career. Meanwhile Sathre used his
seventh-place finish at the MIAC meet a year ago as a springboard
to a first-place finish at the Region meet and a second-place
finish in the Division III National Championships, and he's won
both of his races this fall against large, talented fields.
Other returning All-MIAC runners include Bethel junior Zach
Haskins (eighth in 2010), Saint John's senior
Ruairi Moynihan (11th), St. Thomas senior
Tyler Iverson (13th) and Saint Mary's senior
David Feather (14th).
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 Women's Cross Country Championship Preview
2011
MIAC Men's Cross Country Composite Schedule
USTFCCCA
Division III Cross Country Rankings
Team-by-Team
Previews: AUG | BU | CAR | CON | GAC | HU | MAC | SJU | SMU | STO | UST |
Courtesy of
MIAC