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.
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.
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.
