by Larry Eder
Cross Country action on XC Yearbook cover!
Hats off to North Central for winning the Mens Div 3 by largest margin ever! Wisconsin Eau Claire had to dig deep, winning 48-49! Special thanks to Walt Murphy for his excellent coverage. To subscribe to Walt’s News Service, try WMurphy25@aol.com
NCAA Div.III, courtesy of Walt Murphy
Cleveland, Ohio, 11-21, mild, muddy, hilly
Results and report: http://www.bw.edu/athletics/09ccnationals/
North Central lived up to its pre-meet role as favorite by winning the men’s team title with the greatest margin of victory in Div.III history, beating runnerup Williams by 131 points (50-181). The win increased North Central’s record number of titles, all won under the leadership of coach Al Carius, to 13. Carius was a 2-time Big-10 champion while competing for Illinois.
Peter Kosgei, the defending champion, was leading with 600-meters to go when he was passed by Lynhburg’s Ricky Flynn, who went on to win in 25:09.8. Kosgei, seemingly giving up when he realized he wasn’t going to win, faded all the way back to 43rd place.
While the men’s race was a runaway, the women’s outcome was anything but. St.Lawrence, with individual winner Wendy Pavlus paving the way, led Wisconsin-Eau Claire 48-99 through four scorers, but, as every x-country coach knows, you’re often only as good as your 5th runner. Eau-Claire completed its scoring when Jenna Smith crossed the finish line in 109th place(72nd-team) to give the team a total of 171 points, then had to endure an agonizing wait for St.Lawrence’s 5th scorer to finish. Dozens of runners went by before Jackie Lemme finished in 181st place (132-team) to give St.Lawrence, which was ranked #6 in the final coaches poll, 180 points, 9 shy of Eau Claire’s total. It was the first National title for Eau Claire, who’s 171 points is the 2nd highest winning total since Div.III held its first Championship in 1981. Ony Middlebury’s winning score of 179 points from last year is higher.
MEN
TEAMS
Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. North Central 50 2 6 10 15 17 20 25
2. Williams 181 3 26 32 33 87 – –
3. Allegheny 195 8 11 44 49 83 173 212
4. NYU 224 12 23 27 61 101 168 –
5. Cortland St. 232 13 34 55 56 74 109 199
6. Geneseo St. 271 28 29 62 71 81 95 97
7. Washingon U. 285 16 46 69 72 82 103 135
8. Haverford 333 43 59 66 77 88 122 –
9. Wisconsin-Platteville 345 5 40 93 96 111 174 189
10. Wisconsin-LaCrosse 373 48 52 57 102 114 116 161
INDIVIDUALS(8k)
1. Ricky Flynn Lynchburg Sr 25:09.8
2. Michael Spain North Central Jr 25:32.2
3. Edgar Kosgey Williams/Kenya Sr 25:34.2
4. Dan Ramsey St.Lawrence Jr 25:35.7
5. Jason Garvens Wisconsin-Platteville Jr 25:36.2
6. Ryan Carrigan North Central Sr 25:37.4
7. Paul Norton Brandeis-Jr Jr 25:37.8
8. Jesse Faller Tufts Sr 25:40.0
9. Michael Heymann Plattsburgh St. Jr 25:40.3
10. Daniel Greeno Bethel-MN Sr 25:41.1
WOMEN
TEAMS Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. WisconsinEau Claire 171 14 24 30 31 72 80 95
2. St.Lawrence 180 1 8 11 28 132 136 177
3. Calvin 195 25 26 33 49 62 106 151
4. Middlebury 244 20 27 44 60 93 145 166
5. M.I.T. 254 9 21 36 86 102 110 172
6. Whitworth 291 16 19 50 58 148 175 218
7. Johns Hopkins 306 37 42 57 65 105 144 195
8. Williams 309 34 38 55 83 99 115 174
9. Geneseo St 320 12 56 70 82 100 101 178
10. Washington U. 334 13 35 39 118 129 143 161
INDIVIDUALS(6k)
1. Wendy Pavlus St.Lawrence Jr 21:28.0
2. Marie Borner Bethel-MN Sr 21:45.8
3. Ayla Mitchell Wisconsin-Oshkosh Sr 21:46.3
4. Lauren Reich DePauw Sr 21:50.5
5. Joanna Johnson Oberlin Jr 21:54.2
6. Katie Navarre Denison Jr 21:57.1
7. Stephanie Perleberg Wisconsin-LaCrosse Sr 22:21.2
8. Caitlin Masse Trinity-TX Jr 22:21.7
9. Jackie Spelts Nebraska Wesleyan Sr 22:22.6
10. Jenny Scherer St.Norbert Sr 22:26.4
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