The Gustavus men’s cross country team will take part in the MIAC Championships on Saturday at 2 pm at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. The Gusties will be looking to improve on their eighth place finish from a year ago.
Gustavus Men’s Preview
Head Coach: Jed Friedrich (Third year)
Athletes to Watch:
Dan Foley, So., Minneapolis, Minn. (2nd at UWRF Invite, 66th at 2005 MIAC meet)
Alex Zupan, Sr., Monona, Wis. (11th at 2004 MIAC Meet, 21st at 2005 MIAC meet, 20th at 2005 NCAA Region meet)
Chris deLaubenfels, Jr., Mount Vernon, Iowa (17th at Wartburg Invite, 46th at St. Olaf Invite, 141st at 2005 MIAC meet)
The Gustavus men’s cross country team has its sights set on improving its eighth place finish from a year ago. The team will be led by sophomore Dan Foley who has been the top Gustie finisher in all five meets this season. Foley has improved his times significantly from a year ago and hopes to make a significant leap at the conference meet where he placed 66th.
Joining Foley on the conference squad will be senior Alex Zupan, junior Chris deLaubenfels, freshman John Kennedy, sophomore John Leaf, junior Kyle Carlson, and freshman Mark Hartman. Zupan will be competing in his fourth consecutive conference meet. He earned all-conference honors with an 11th place finish in 2004 and he received honorable mention honorable mention recognition last year with a 22nd place finish. John Leaf also has experience at the conference meet as he placed 80th last year as a freshman and Chris deLaubenfels crossed the finish line in the 141st position. Coach Jed Friedrich is hoping that the four returning veterans can mix with his two talented freshmen to boost the Gusties into an upper division finish in 2006.
2006 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Men’s Cross Country Championship Preview
Como Park Golf Course will once again host some of best distance runners in the state of Minnesota as the MIAC Men’s Cross Country Championship takes place on October 28, 2006 at 2:00 pm. Eleven teams will take to the eight-kilometer course with the goal of raising the MIAC Championship plaque in triumph.
2005 MIAC Champion Hamline will be the team to beat again in 2006. The Pipers return eight of their top nine runners from a season ago and are currently ranked fifth in the nation. Led by three talented juniors, Saint John’s will challenge Hamline for the Championship. Saint John’s is ranked 13th nationally in the USTFCCCA poll. Three strong junior runners also lead a Carleton team that will contend for the top spot.
Even though the top three individuals from last season’s MIAC Men’s Cross Country Championship have graduated, there is still an abundance of talent entering this year’s race. Of the top 15 runners from 2005, ten return in 2006 to lead the battle for the MIAC title. Five of those returnees come from reigning team champion Hamline. Led by Travis Bristow (4th in 2005), the Pipers also return Brandon Gleason (7th), Tony Klappa (9th), Dan Steinbrecher (10th) and Chris Lutz (14th). Other returning All-Conference runners include: Carleton’s John Nowinski (5th in 2005), St. Olaf’s Tony Hoff (6th), Macalester’s Dylan Keith (8th), Carleton’s Joe Sepe (12th), and Saint John’s Mitch Vanbruggen (15th). Saint John’s junior Kelly Fermoyle and Bethel freshman Dan Greeno could also contend for a top spot at this year’s championship.
Augsburg
Augsburg’s men’s cross country team features a young roster, but has shown continual improvement throughout the 2006 season, and will aim for improvement from last year’s finish at the MIAC championships.
The Auggies have been led this season by newcomer Brent Haglund, who has been the team’s top finisher in every race. The lone senior — and lone returner — on the men’s roster, Micah Lenthe, has been a consistent No. 2 runner for the Auggies this season. Newcomers Shane Wyborny, Chris Scribner and Ben Hoffmann have shown steady improvement throughout the season, with times in the 28- and 29-minute ranges in recent races. Other newcomers to the Auggie roster include: Jeremy Anderson, Victor Sanchez and Zach Sommer.
Bethel
The 2006 Bethel cross country team looks to build upon the foundation that began last year when the Royals finished seventh.
Senior Josh Tschetter returns and will look to lead as captain for the men’s squad. Other runners that will be important team contributors this year include: senior Noel Stringham; juniors Erik Bostrom, Peter Caldwell, and Josh Nelson; sophomores Brian Anderson, Carl Gladitsch, Jordan Groh, Tyler Hinrichs, and Steve Strom. Gladitsch was the top freshman at the MIAC meet last year and will also figure prominently in the conference meet again this year. In addition, freshman Dan Greeno has been a strong contributor to this year’s team.
With this talent and depth, the men’s squad is seeking a top five finish at the MIAC Championships this year.
Carleton
The Carleton College men’s cross country team, last year’s MIAC Championships runners-up, brings a deep and experienced team to the 2006 MIAC Cross Country Championships.
The Knights have had a strong showing this fall, winning the St. Olaf Invitational and performing well in their other meets. They feature such runners as John Nowinski, who placed fifth last year at the conference meet, and Joe Sepe, who placed 12th who are returning All-MIAC runners. The Knights have the potential to place ten runners within the top 30 at the championships, according to head coach Bill Terriquez.
In addition to Nowinski and Sepe, the Knights will count on Quentin Kennedy, who placed 27th at last year’s conference championship, newcomer Charlie Gamble, and sophomore Meeks Brucker, who placed 29th at the 2005 conference meet. Rounding out the top ten for Carleton are Mark Felice, Andrew Jahn, Ryan Martinez, Eamon Monaghan, and Reuben Woodruff. All of those runners placed in the top 60 a year ago, with Monaghan’s 36th-place finish being the best.
Concordia
The Concordia men’s cross country team will be hoping to peak at just the right time as they prepare for the 2006 MIAC Men’s Cross Country Championship Meet. The Cobbers have steadily improved throughout the season and will be looking to improve on last year’s ninth-place finish at the meet.
Leading the way for the Cobbers will be junior Matt Putratz. He finished 34th at last year’s conference meet and will be looking to better that finish this year. The next four runners for the Cobbers have traded places throughout the season. Senior Dan Bye is rounding into form and looks to be the teams No. 2 runner. Brandon Huether has been consistently finishing as the team’s No. 2 or No. 3 runner. After Bye and Huether, head coach Garrick Larson will have several runners compete for the next three spots. Included in the top five finishers for Concordia should be Mike Reponen, Dustin Weege, Alex Berg and Isaac Ydstie.
Gustavus
The Gustavus men’s cross country team has its sights set on improving its eighth place finish from a year ago. The team will be led by sophomore Dan Foley who has been the top Gustie finisher in all five meets this season. Foley has improved his times significantly from a year ago and hopes to make a significant leap at the conference meet where he placed 66th in 2005.
Joining Foley on the conference squad will be senior Alex Zupan, junior Chris deLaubenfels, freshman John Kennedy, sophomore John Leaf, junior Kyle Carlson, and freshman Mark Hartman. Zupan will be competing in his fourth consecutive conference meet. He earned all-conference honors with an 11th place finish in 2004 and he received honorable mention recognition last year with a 22nd place finish. John Leaf also has experience at the conference meet as he placed 80th last year as a freshman and Chris deLaubenfels crossed the finish line in the 141st position. Coach Jed Friedrich is hoping that the four returning veterans can mix with his two talented freshmen to boost the Gusties into an upper division finish in 2006.
Hamline
The Pipers will defend last season’s conference championship, returning eight of their top nine runners from a team that won the MIAC title by 27 places a season ago. Five all-conference first team performers in the 2005 MIAC Championships highlight the roster. Four of those runners finished in the top 10 last season.
Senior Travis Bristow, who finished fourth in last season’s race, has had an outstanding season leading up to the championships. He finished 10th at the Roy Griak Invitational — the highest placing by an MIAC runner in the field.
Brandon Gleason, Tony Klappa, Dan Steinbrecher, and Chris Lutz also earned All-MIAC accolades for the Pipers, who in 2005, won their first men’s cross country title since 1977 and first title in any sport at Hamline since 1988.
Hamline enters the championship as the fifth ranked team in the country as stated by the latest USTFCCCA poll.
Macalester
Macalester has placed fourth at each of the last three MIAC championship meets and appears capable of another upper division performance, perhaps even that elusive top-three finish. Dylan Keith has been having an excellent senior campaign and after placing eighth in this race a year ago, is one of the top challengers for top individual honors this year. Keith was seventh among Division III runners and third among MIAC harriers at the big Jim Drews Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
When Keith took a weekend off, teammate David Augustson took over as the lead runner at St. Olaf’s Pre-Region Meet with a 13th-place finish. Augustson just missed all-conference status last fall when he placed 16th before taking 33rd at regionals.
The Scots have had solid depth this year and will be looking for a pack finish from Matt Wegmann, Tim Burns, and Kyle Braam.
Saint John’s
The Johnnies opened the 2006 season with two wins after claiming their own invitational on Sept. 8 and then finishing first out of 15 teams at the Wis.-Eau Claire Invitational. Currently ranked #13 in the latest USTFCCCA poll, Saint John’s will look to improve upon its fifth-place finish at the MIAC Championships last season.
The Johnnies will be led by five strong runners in 2006, including Junior Kelly Fermoyle, who will look to improve upon his 29th place (27:32) showing at the 2005 MIAC Championships; junior Mitch VanBruggen, who placed 15th place at last year’s MIAC Championships; junior Chris Erichsen, who finished 22nd at the MIAC Championships last season; sophomore Zach Hunter, who placed 37th (27:43) at the MIAC meet last year; and senior Kyle Triggs, who finished 29th at the 2005 MIAC Championships.
Saint Mary’s
With a year under his belt, Saint Mary’s University cross country coach Ward Berndt is feeling a little more relaxed heading into season No. 2. It doesn’t hurt that his men’s squad is once again young — but experienced and talented.
Berndt isn’t quite as sure what to expect from his men’s team, which includes 10 freshmen and sophomores among his 12-man roster. “We’re super-young again this year,” Berndt said of his men’s team, which placed 10th at the MIAC Championships a year ago. “But we also have a number of guys who have that year of collegiate competition under their belts, so they know what to expect and that experience will benefit them this year.
Runners expected to be key contributors for the Cardinals at the conference meet include Steve Adams, Andrew Rath, and Jerod Baertsch.
St. Olaf
The St. Olaf men return with a younger team after placing third last year. Leading the way will be senior captains Tony Hoff and Andrew Petz, both of whom ran in the Oles’ top five last season. Hoff placed sixth in the MIAC meet last year, earning all-conference honors. Junior David Swanson returns as one of St. Olaf’s top runners, as do sophomores David Green and Cullen O’Neill who have consistently rounded out the Ole line-up this season.
St. Thomas
Led by two seniors, a young St. Thomas team placed sixth in the 2005 conference cross country meet. The Tommies are even younger in 2006, as 13th-year coach Pete Wareham has five sophomores and two freshmen in his top seven. The Tommies have shown gradual improvement this fall and will look to crack the top five at the MIAC race.
St. Thomas is coming off a second-place team finish in the 19-team Gettysburg (Pa.) Invite Oct. 14. UST put its Nos. 2-6 finishers within 19 seconds. Sophomore Logan O’Grady placed seventh in a field of 208 finishers with a time of 26:16 for 8,000 meters. O’Grady is looking to continue his impressive time drops from 2005, when he placed 45th at the conference meet as a freshman.
Other top runners for UST include sophomores Matt Boumeester, Rorak Hooten and Kyle Brandon, and freshmen Seth Rosvold and George Williams.