Gusties Nicole Porath and Brenden Huber following their respective wins at the 2013 Fargo Marathon on Saturday.

St. Peter, Minn. - Battling the high humidity and unpredictable weather of the Red River Valley, a pair of runners with Gustavus ties made their mark at the ninth annual Fargo Marathon on Saturday.

Nicole Porath, a 2005 Gustavus graduate, crossed the finish line with a time of 2:50:49 in front of a roaring Fargodome crowd to win the women’s marathon.

“I’m not going to lie, the crowd is amazing,” said Porath about her finish. “It’s fabulous, one of the best I ever had. The course was flat and fast, although you had to be careful of some of the corners.”

Earlier in the day, Gustavus cross country and track and field assistant coach Brenden Huber won the men’s 10k race with a time of 33:41.

Huber also praised the finish line crowd, stating after the race that, “It’s my favorite finish of all the road races I do because you come into that tunnel and the crowd just lights up.  You get your third and fourth wind. It’s just electric in here when you hit the ramp. It’s a lot of fun.”

Fargo Forum Porath Release

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/400270/publisher_ID/1/

Fargo Forum Huber Release

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/400257/publisher_ID/1/

Fargo Marathon Website

http://www.fargomarathon.com/index.html

St. Paul, Minn. –

Of those 329 selections, 27 were members of the Gustavus Adolphus College Athletics Department.  A total of seven football players, six women’s soccer players, five women’s cross country runners, four men’s soccer players, two men’s golfers, two women’s golfers, and one men’s cross country runner represented Gustavus on this year’s list.

Athletically, student-athletes in team sports must compete in 50 percent of their team’s regular-season varsity contests. The team sports eligible were football, volleyball, men’s soccer and women’s soccer. Cross country student-athletes were required to finish in the overall top 50 or their team’s top seven at the MIAC Championship. Golfers were required to be a member of the competing team at the MIAC Championships to be eligible for the honor.

MIAC Academic All-Conference awardees are announced twice annually, after the completion of the fall and spring academic semesters. The MIAC Winter/Spring 2012-13 Academic All-Conference selections will be announced in late June. The MIAC Academic All-Conference archives can be accessed here.

MIAC Release

Fall 2012 Gustavus Academic All-Conference Honorees

Men’s Cross Country

Joseph Renier (Jr.,  Cambridge, Minn.)

Women’s Cross Country

Meredith Bache-Wiig (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.), Kate Eggers (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.), Caitlin Fermoyle (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.), Rebecca Hare (So., Albany, Minn.), Elizabeth Hauer (Sr., Little Falls, Minn.)

Football

Torey Asao (Jr., Chaska, Minn.), Jacob Forcier (So., Watkins, Minn.), Brian Grundmeyer (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), Brian Karg (Sr., Annandale, Minn.), Bryce Kroells (Jr., Green Isle, Minn.), Zach Vine (So., Lino Lakes, Minn.), Trevor Winkelman (Jr., Eagan, Minn.)

Men’s Golf

Andrew Oakes (Jr., Hermantown, Minn.), Coby Rowley (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.)

Women’s Golf

Kayleigh Dittes (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.), Elizabeth Strom (So., Fargo, N.D.)

Men’s Soccer

Bryan Bjork (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.), Casey Gilbert (Jr., Marshfield, Wis.), Evan Odean (Sr., Duluth, Minn.), Sean Sendelbach (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.)

Women’s Soccer

Leah Brossoit (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), Nicole Carlson (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.), Margaret Lane (Sr., Saginaw, Minn.), Emily Papagapitos (Jr., Maplewood, Minn.), Jessica Richert (Sr., Freeburg, Ill.), Andra Trakalo (So., Prior Lake, Minn.)

Dillon Emo led the way for the Gusties.

Northfield, Minn. – After a 10th place finish in a field of 11 teams at the 2012 MIAC Championships, the Gustavus men’s cross country team bounced back to conclude its season with a tie for 15th place in a field of 27 teams at the NCAA Central Region Championships on Saturday afternoon.  St. Olaf won the contest after accumulating 70 team points.

“The men had a much better performance today,” mentioned head coach Dale Bahr.  “I was impressed because they came out with the attitude of wanting to perform well because they can, rather than because they have to.  They were much more relaxed and ran stronger today.”

The Gusties were led by sophomore Dillon Emo (Brookings, S.D.) for the second consecutive race.  Emo finished 60th in a time of 27:07.4.  Following Emo were Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) and Leighton Becher (So., Woodbury, Minn.).  Renier crossed the line in 27:23.0 for 74th, while Becher finished in 27:34.4 to place 85th.

“Dillon Emo, Joe Renier, and Leighton Becher all ran tough races today,” added Bahr.  “You could see it in their eyes that they were determined to perform better.  It was a good follow up to the conference meet.”

Coach Dale Bahr was pleased with how his team responded to a disappointing performance two weeks ago.  “The guys bounced back,” he explained.  “Any time you don’t perform the way you are capable it is easy to point fingers, but they did what they needed to do, they came back, and they performed like what they can do.”

Complete Results

St. Peter, Minn. -

Men

After a 10th place finish at the MIAC Championships on Oct. 27th, the Gustavus men’s cross country team will look for a stronger performance on Saturday morning.  Sophomore Dillon Emo (Brookings, S.D.) led the way for the second consecutive year at the conference meet.  Emo finished 41st after crossing the line in 27:02.6.  The next finisher for the Gustavus men was Adam Lund (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) who crossed the line in 27:11.4 for 47th place.  This weekend, the men’s field will include all 11 MIAC schools, as well as Bethany Lutheran, Buena Vista, Central (Iowa), Coe, Cornell (Iowa), Dubuque, Grinnell, Loras, Luther, Marin Luther, Minnesota-Morris, Nebraska Wesleyan, Northwestern (Minn.), Simpson, St. Scholastica, and Wartburg for a field of 27 teams.

Women

Following its first place MIAC Championship performance, the Gustavus women’s cross country team will attempt to repeat their performance at the Regional Championships on Saturday.  The Gusties used strong performances across the board on their way to the second conference championship in program history.  Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.) led the way for the Gusties.  Hare finished fourth in 22:29.4 and was followed by Caitlin Fermoyle (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) in fifth with a time of 22:33.0.  Seniors Kate Eggers (Montevideo, Minn.) and Beth Hauer (Little Falls, Minn.) earned their third All-Conference honors after finishing 10th (22:56.6) and 12 (23:01.9), respectively.  Like the men, all 12 MIAC schools will be represented in the race, and will be joined by Bethany Lutheran, Buena Vista, Central (Iowa), Coe, Cornell (Iowa), Dubuque, Grinnell, Loras, Luther, Martin Luther, Minnesota-Morris, Nebraska Wesleyan, Northwestern (Minn.), Simpson, St. Scholastica, and Wartburg to complete the 28 team field.

Meet Home

Head coach Dale Bahr was honored as this year's MIAC Coach-of-the-Year.

Head coach Dale Bahr was honored as this year's MIAC Coach-of-the-Year.

St. Paul, Minn. – After winning its second conference title in the history of the program, the Gustavus women’s cross country team kept the accolades coming when the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its cross country awards on Thursday.  The Gusties placed four runners on the All-Conference list and added a Coach-of-the-Year award for head coach Dale Bahr.

Sophomore Caitlin Fermoyle finished fifth for her first All-Conference award.

Junior Rebecca finished fourth for her first All-Conference honor.

The top 15 runners in Saturday’s race were automatically named All-Conference for their performance, while the next 10 finishers (16-25) were named All-MIAC Honorable Mention. The Gusties led the way with four All-Conference runners, while Carleton matched the champs with four on the All-MIAC squad as well. St. Olaf had three All-MIAC finishers, St. Thomas had two and Augsburg and Hamline had one apiece. The Oles led the way with three Honorable Mention runners, Saint Benedict and Carleton had two each and Macalester, Concordia and St. Catherine had one apiece.

The four Gustavus representatives on the All-Conference team are Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.), Caitlin Fermoyle (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.), Kate Eggers (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.), and Beth Hauer (Sr., Little Falls, Minn.).  Hare finished third in a time of 22:29 to lead the Gusties and earn her first All-Conference honor.  Four seconds behind her was Fermoyle, who finished fourth in 22:33.  It was also Fermoyle’s debut on the All-Conference list.  In 10th was Eggers, who crossed the line in 22:56 for the third All-Conference honor of her career.  Rounding out the Gusties in the top 15 was Hauer.  Hauer finished in 12th in 23:01 to earn All-MIAC marks for the second time.

Senior Kate Eggers finished 10th to earn All-Conference honors for the third straight year.

Senior Beth Hauer finished 12th for her second consecutive All-Conference performance.

Bahr earned his first Coach-of-the-Year honor after winning his first conference title as a head coach.  After assisting Scott Jerome in the program’s first conference championship in 2003, Bahr is in his fourth year as head coach of the Gustavus women’s cross country team.  He is the second coach in the program’s history to be named Coach-of-the-Year.  Jerome was awarded the honor twice in 2001 and 2003.

As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC announced the seventh annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for Women’s Cross Country. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition.

This year’s representative on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for the women is Meredith Bache-Wiig (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.), who narrowly missed Honorable Mention honors after finishing 26th.  Although the Gustavus men’s team did not place a member on the All-Conference or Honorable Mention teams, they are represented by Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.

Women’s MIAC Release

Men’s MIAC Release

Senior Meredith Bache-Wiig was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

Junior Joseph Renier was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

St. Paul, Minn. -

“The men went out hard,” remarked head coach Dale Bahr.  ”They went aggressive from the start and I was very excited to see them be aggressive.  They lost a little focus during the middle of the race, but they came back very strong at the end of the race.  That says a lot because they didn’t give up.  They went after it, and they tried to recover.  They showed their never-give-up attitude, and I liked seeing that out of them.”

For the second consecutive season, Dillon Emo (So., Brookings, S.D.) led the Gusties at the MIAC Championships.  The sophomore was the first Gustie to finish after crossing the line in 27:02.6 for 41st place.

Complete Results

St. Peter, Minn. –

The Gusties enter the 2012 MIAC Championships coming off an eighth place performance in 2011.  Dillon Emo (So., Brookings, S.D.) led the way for the Black and Gold last year with a 26th place finish in 26:29.  Preston Tomlinson (Sr., New Prague, Minn.) was the only other returner to finish in Gustavus’ top five.  Tomlinson crossed the finish line in 27:31 to place him 54th.  With a total of 211 team points, the Gusties finished 166 points behind last year’s champion, Hamline, and 26 points behind seventh place finisher Saint Mary’s, something that head coach Dale Bahr is looking to change.

“We challenged the guys to step up and be top four or top five this year,” stated Bahr.  “Eighth place is unacceptable.  The guys seem to be responsive of that, and I think they understand what it will take to be in the top five.”

Running as a pack has been the strength of a Gustie team that has recorded two third place finishes, a sixth place finish, and an 18th place finish over the course of the season.  With three different runners recording the lowest time on the team in the four meets this year, the Gustie men have shown strong depth from top to bottom.  Adam Lund (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.), Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.), and Leighton Becher (So., Woodbury, Minn.) have set the tone and will look to continue their strong running in an effort to push the Gusties to their first top five finish since 2007 when they placed fifth.

“Our guys know they need to go out there and compete,” mentioned coach Bahr.  “The attitudes are there so it will be fun to see how they step up and perform.”

The 2012 race marks the 15th anniversary of Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn., serving as the championship host site. The event will begin with the men’s 8K race at 2:15 p.m., followed by the women’s 6K race.  Augsburg College is the host school for the 2012 MIAC Cross Country Championships.  The day 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 women’s race. The Top 15 runners in each race will be named All-MIAC, with finishers 16-25 receiving Honorable Mention, and all will be recognized for their accomplishment during the presentation.

MIAC Championships Website

MIAC Preview

Sophomore Leighton Becher led the Gusties with a 78th place finish in 26:46.4.

West Salem, Wis. – The Gustavus men’s cross country team finished 18th in a field of 26 teams at the Jim Drews Invitational on Saturday morning.  The Gusties amassed 515 team points on the day.  UW-La Crosse, the host school, racked up 45 points to win the Invitational.  Of the eight MIAC schools competing, Gustavus was sixth behind St. Olaf (fifth), Saint John’s (seventh), St. Thomas (ninth), Hamline (14th), and Saint Mary’s (16th).

“Initially when I watched the race unfold, it was not exciting to see where we finished,” stated head coach Dale Bahr.  “But after looking at the results, everyone that returned from last year improved their time all the way down the line.  They were faster on the same course in worse conditions, so we are definitely showing improvement, and I am happy to see that.”

A model of improvement, Leighton Becher (So., Woodbury, Minn.) led the Gusties with a 78th place finish.  The sophomore finished in 26:46.4 on Saturday compared to a time of 28:04.8 a year ago, an improvement of 1:18.4.  Gustavus had only two more runners finish in the top 100 out of a field of 461 competitors.  Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) finished 93rd with a time of 26:59.4, and Chad Claybaugh (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) finished on Renier’s heels in 94th with a time of 27:02.1.

“This team works extremely hard,” remarked Bahr.  “They are doing all of the little things, and that is reflecting in their improvement of times.”

The Gusties will now have a weekend off in preparation for the MIAC Championships on Saturday, October 27th in St. Paul, Minn.  That race will begin at 2:15 p.m. at Como Golf Course.

Complete Results

The Gustavus men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to travel to West Salem, Wis., to compete in the Jim Drews Invitational (men) and Tori Neubauer Invitational (women) on Saturday morning at Maple Grove Country Club.  The men’s race will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the women to follow at 11:30 a.m.

Men

The Jim Drews Invitational is a race held annually in honor of former UW-La Crosse All-American and national champion Jim Drews.  The Gusties will look to improve on a 17th place finish in a field of 25 teams last season.  They were led by Mark Bartley `12, who finished 38th in the race.

The Gusties will also look to build on a third place finish two weeks ago at the Gale Woods Invitational.  Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) led the way for the Black and Gold.  He finished in 27:33.05 to place seventh.  Leighton Becher (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.) was the only other Gustie to register a time inside the top 15.  The sophomore ran to a 12th place finish in a time of 27:58.13.

Women

The Tori Neubauer Invitational, much like the Jim Drews Invitational, is an annual race held in honor of former UW-La Crosse All-American and national champion Tori Neubauer.  Last season, the Gustie women finished seventh in a field of 23 teams, led by Brooke Beskau `12.

After running away with victory in near-perfect fashion two weeks ago at the Gale Woods Invitational, the Gusties, who are now ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA regional polls, will look to duplicate that performance on Saturday.  The Gustavus women took four of the top five spots on their way to a team score of 17, two points from a perfect score of 15.  Caitlin Fermoyle (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.) led the way with her second first place finish of the season in a time of 23:05.62.  Kate Eggers (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.), Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.), and Beth Hauer (Sr., Little Falls, Minn.) rounded out the Gusties in the top five finishing second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Junior Joseph Renier finished seventh to lead the Gusties on Friday evening.

Minnetrista, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s cross country team came away with a third place finish at the Crown College Invitational Friday evening.  The Gusties finished with 74 points behind Saint John’s University (15) and the University of St. Thomas (53).

“The guys battled through a tough course today,” said assistant coach Brenden Huber.  “We got some great experience.  There was definitely no lack of competing.”

Joseph Renier (Jr., Cambridge, Minn.) led the way for the Gusties.  The junior finished in 27:33.05 to place him seventh, which marked his first top ten standing this season.  It was also the first time in his collegiate career he has ranked in the first ten to finish.

“Joe Renier ran a complete race,” stated Huber.  “He stuck his nose in with the best of the Johnnies.  He really ran well.”

Leighton Becher (So., Woodbury, Minn.) was the only other Gustie to register a time inside the top 15.  The sophomore ran to a 12th place finish in a time of 27:58.13.

The Gustie men will be back in action on Saturday, October 13th when they travel to La Crosse, Wis. to compete in the Jim Drews Invitational at 10:30 a.m.

Results