St. Peter, Minn. – Although the Gustavus Adolphus women’s cross country team competed just twice during the month of October, the squad’s performance at the 2012 MIAC Championships simply could not go unnoticed. The Gusties turned in the surprise performance of the weekend with a first place showing at the conference meet, Gustavus’ first title since 2003. A key piece and driving force behind Gustavus’ conference run was senior Kate Eggers (Montevideo, Minn.), who earns the title of Gustavus Female Student-Athlete of the Month for October for her performances.
Head Coach Dale Bahr explained that although Eggers was struggling with injuries early in the season, she was able to fight through them and eventually recover. “Kate wasn’t sure where she was going to be at when she started running again,” explained Bahr. “Once she started running on a consistent basis, she knew that it was going to take a little time for her to get back. Over the course of the season, she kept steadily moving up, increasing her mileage, and increasing her time.”
After enduringly working her way back into form through September, Eggers recorded an 18th place finish at the Tori Neaubauer Invitational held on Saturday, Oct. 13 in West Salem, Wis. The Tori Neaubauer featured the largest competitive field Gustavus would face during the regular season with 26 teams and 433 participants.
“As it came closer to the conference meet, Kate started becoming that steady runner that we had always known,” said Bahr. “If there is one thing we can count on with Kate, it is that she is always going to be a solid and consistent leader. She doesn’t falter and never has a bad race, thats just not her.”
At the final MIAC Championship meet of her career, Eggers proved her consistency with a 10th place finish, crossing the finish line in 22:56.6 – her second-best time of the season.
Eggers’ drive and perseverance are what truly deserve recognition, explained Bahr. “Coming into the conference meet, she suffered an injury to her ribcage that could have set her back. Being a true leader and a true captain, she battled through it and put on display her leadership with a very strong performance.”
With her 10th place mark at the conference meet, Eggers became a three-time All-Conference performer. Kate, along with teammateBeth Hauer (Little Falls, Minn.) who finished fourth at the MIAC Championships, became just second and third women’s cross country runners to garner All-MIAC status three times in a career. Nichole Petersen `05 is the only Gustavus runner to take home All-Conference marks four times.