Cougar Cross Country--Week in Review (Joy Heysse, University Register)
9/17/2009
The men’s and women’s cross country teams, after a summer of practicing and training, took to the course to put their hard work to the test. On Saturday, September 12, they opened the 2009 season on the road at Crown College in Saint Bonafacius to compete in the Crown College Invitational. The teams competed alongside various other athletes, including those from Viterbo University, Martin Luther College, North Central University, and Bethany Lutheran College. Both Martin Luther and Bethany Lutheran, along with Crown College, compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference against the Cougars, so this early season meet was a preview of things to come.
On the women’s side, the meet saw the debut of highly touted freshman recruit, Linda Keller (Paynesville, MN). In her first collegiate race, she did not disappoint. Keller won the invitational on the women’s side and set a new Cougar record for the 6K. Her time of 22:06 broke the previous school record by two minutes. That record was set by Kateryna Zhdanovych in 2005. Keller’s time also was nearly a minute faster than the second place finisher, Bea Foley of Viterbo University.
Also running well for the Cougar women and earning top ten finishes were captain Katie Schneiderman (Jr., Luverne, MN) and Kacy Nehowig (So., Paynesville, MN). Nehowig is a transfer student from the Northern Iowa Area Community College. Schneiderman finished seventh overall with her time of 25:20, and Nehowig rounded out the top ten with her time of 25:49.
Sonja Smidt (So., Apple Valley, MN) perhaps exemplified the purpose of the offseason training and hard work. She was able to cut seven minutes off of her 2008 personal best for a time of 30:19. As a team, the Cougar women took second behind the team from Viterbo.
The men’s team also had an impressive day. The Cougar men, thanks to three top ten finishers and some other strong performances, were able to win a meet for the first time in their three years of being collegiately competitive. Running especially strong races, to finish third and fourth respectively, were Luke Toso (Jr., Roseville, MN) and Andrew Rehmann (Jr., Roseville, MN). Toso finished with a time of 28:19, while Rehmann came in right behind him at 28:20. Also finishing in the top ten, in just his second season of cross country, with a 20-second personal best from last season, was Ian Philbrick (Jr., Rochester, MN). Philbrick placed seventh with his time of 29:02. Winning the meet on the men’s side was Nathan Loersch of Martin Luther.
Also having good races on Saturday to help the Cougars to the first-place finish were Denver Rogalla (So., Onamia, MN), Nick Fox (Fr., Sartell, MN), and Ted Gray (Fr., Long Prarie, MN). These three athletes took 17th, 18th, and 19th to help the Cougars. These three athletes finished within 12 seconds of one another.
The Cougars will have the coming weekend off but will still be working hard daily in practice so that they continue to enjoy the successes shown at Crown. Their next meet is the weekend of September 26 as they travel to Saint Paul for the Roy Griak Invitational. The Griak is hosted by the Gophers and involves numerous athletes and teams. Good luck to the Cougars in that race.
