Zinkula and Tonui earn AMC Runner of the Week Awards

Amber Zinkula & Philiph Tonui race to AMC Runner of the Week awards!

Coming on the heels of record setting performances at last Saturday's Illinois College Invitational, both freshman Amber Zinkula and junior Philiph Tonui were named the American Midwest Conference's Runner of the Week!

You can see the press release for Amber HERE.

You can see the press release for Philiph HERE

HLG Shines at IC Invite

RESULTS

On a beautiful fall Saturday in nearby Jacksonville, Illinois, the HLG cross country team took advantage of great racing conditions to put forth their most complete effort of the season. The men walked away with a 4th place team finish while the women's team, despite resting over half of the squad, took home a sixth-place finish.

THE MEN
It was a record setting day for the men's team as all six Trojans set new personal best times. The team was bolstered by the effort of junior Philiph Tonui, who shattered his own school record in the 8K en route to a first-place finish. Philiph, who was the winner of last year's meet as well, completed the course in a blistering time of 24:45. His effort proved to be just the beginning as the rest of the men ran with great heart and desire and finished with great results. Senior Jason Cline crossed the line in a time of 27:22, which was good for 21st place overall. Not far behind was sophomore Ben Griffin (27:49-29th), junior Brett Jones (27:51-31st), and freshman Tyler Malone (27:58-35th). Not to be outdone, junior Nathan Uding capped off the team's effort with a new personal best finish of 28:49, which placed him 49th overall.

COACH COMMENTS: What a tremendous effort by our men today. Philiph got out early and led from wire to wire. My hat goes off to the guy riding the lead bike. Philiph actually passed him once or twice so he got his workout in as well! It was great to see him put a complete race together, especially when he was not seriously challenged. He ran a fantastic time and that puts him in a position to go out and finish the season strong. Jason, Ben, Brett, and Tyler pushed each other the entire race and to see them all come in within 36 seconds of one another is a testament to their hard work and decision to just go for it today. Nathan also came out and gave a very solid effort, dropping 3 1/2 minutes off his time from last week! I think all of these guys gained a lot of confidence today and are starting to realize just what they are capable of doing when they push the limit and push one another. I'm very, very proud of them all today and thank God for such a great group of guys to work with.

THE WOMEN
With over half of the women's team resting this weekend, it was up to a group of five Lady Trojans to carry the load this week and they responded very well to the longer (6 kilometer) race. Freshman Amber Zinkula continued her rapid ascent as the newcomer to cross country set a new school record for the 6K distance, finishing 19th overall with a time of 25:02. Freshman Mandi Riddle (25:50-35th) and sophomore Sarah Erickson (37th-26:18) were the next to finish for HLG while sophomore Liz Wilder (44th-27:03) and senior Carissa Eichmeyer (53rd-27:55) rounded out the strong effort for the Lady Trojans.

COACH COMMENTS: I was really proud of how the ladies stepped up today and competed. Moving up to the 6K distance is challenging mentally but we focused on running consistently all week and threw some extra things in to help prepare for the longer race. With so many young runners, it is great to see them come out and make the adjustments necessary to keep improving each week. Amber came out and gave a strong performance and I believe that she is going to improve dramatically before the season is over. Sarah came out and gave a consistent performance, as did Liz and Carissa, who are both really coming along in their training. Mandi struggled early in the race but toughed it out and she will continue to be a major contributor for us as we head towards the end of the season. By resting the rest of the group, we should be close to full strength when we head to Graceland next weekend.

HLG will make take a trip to Lamoni, Iowa next weekend to compete in the Graceland Invitational in what will be the team's final race before the AMC Championship meet on November 6.

Full results will be posted when they become available online.

Trojans Compete at CMU

Breanna Newton racing to an 8th place finish at CMU Invite

On Saturday, the men's & women's cross country teams got back to racing after a three-week layoff by competing in the Gary Stoner Invitational, hosted by Central Methodist University. Both the men and women placed 6th as a team on an unusually warm October day.

The women were led by another strong effort by freshman Breanna Newton, who placed 8th in the very competitive 5K race with a time of 19:35. The next five Lady Trojans, Amber Zinkula (39th), Mandi Riddle (40th), Sarah Erickson (43rd), Jessica Bailey (44th) and Liz Wilder (46th), finished within 38 seconds of one another. Carissa Eichmeyer (47th), Kayle Anders (52nd), and Chelsea Holmstrom (54th) also competed for HLG on the day.

The men were without the services of top-5 runners Tyler Malone and Deon Russell but the 5 men who competed did so with a great deal of heart and effort. Junior Philiph Tonui battled the heat and a shoe problem to place 7th in the 8K race with a time of 26:11. Jason Cline put forth another strong effort and placed 44th with teammate Brett Jones close behind in 46th place. Ben Griffin (48th) and Nathan Uding (52nd) rounded out the effort for the men.

COACH COMMENTS: It was good to get back to racing after the long layoff. With such a young team, we struggled to find our racing form early and that, compounded by the heat and challenging course affected the times. With that said, I think we learned a lot today and will come out next weekend and reap the rewards of this experience. I was proud of the effort and heart shown today. I can tell you that these guys really want to do well and are putting in the work to make it happen. They also show up each weekend we race with great attitudes and represent HLG so well. It is a blessing to get to coach a group that is hungry for success and also seeks to honor Christ by and through what we do as a team.

The team is back in action next Saturday at the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville, IL. The women's 6K race begins at 11am and is followed by the men's 8K at 11:45am.

Track & Field Releases 2010-2011 Schedule

The Hannibal-LaGrange College Track & Field team has announced their schedule for the 2010-2011 indoor & outdoor season. The team kicks off the year in style, traveling to Ames, Iowa to compete in the Iowa State University Holiday Preview on December 10. That meet follows the Midland Lutheran Half-Marathon where a handful on Trojan distance runners, including 2010 national qualifier Philiph Tonui, will attempt to attain the NAIA National qualifying mark for the marathon.

Track & Field Schedule

2010-2011

Date	Event	Location	Time
INDOOR SEASON
12/4/10	Midland Lutheran Half-Marathon	Fremont, NE	TBD
12/10/10	Iowa State University	Ames, IA	TBD
1/14-15/11	SIU-Carbondale	Carbondale, IL	TBD
1/15/11	Missouri Valley College	Marshall, MO	TBD
1/22/11	Illinois College	Jacksonville, IL	TBD
1/29/11	Illinois Wesleyan University	Bloomington, IL	TBD
2/5/10	Illinois College	Jacksonville, IL	TBD
2/19/11	AMC Indoor T&F Championships	Columbia, MO	TBD
3/3-5/11	NAIA Indoor T&F National Championships	Geneva, OH	TBD
OUTDOOR SEASON
3/19/11	Central Methodist University	Fayette, MO	TBD
3/25-26/11	Missouri Relays	Columbia, MO	TBD
4/1-2/11	Washington University	St. Louis, MO	TBD
4/10/11	Central Methodist University	Fayette, MO	TBD
4/16/11	Millikin University	Decatur, IL	TBD
4/19/11	Illinois College	Jacksonville, IL	TBD
4/21-23/11	Kansas Relays	Lawrence, KS	TBD
4/23/11	SIU-Edwardsville	Edwardsville, IL	TBD
4/29-30/11	AMC Outdoor T&F Championships	Lebanon, IL	TBD
5/7/11	Last Chance Qualifier	TBD	TBD
5/26-26/10	NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championships	Marion, IN	TBD

The cross country team is back in action this Saturday, as they will travel to Fayette, MO to compete in the Gary Stoner Invitational.

Breanna Named AMC Runner of the Week!

Breanna Newton

On Tuesday, HLG freshman standout Breanna Newton (Rochelle, IL), was named the American Midwest Conference's Women's Runner of the Week for the week of September 20, 2010. Breanna was honored with this award after her school record performance in last weekend's Missouri Southern Stampede, where she completed the 5K course in 18:35.

Breanna and the rest of her HLG teammates will be back in action on October 9 at the Gary Stoner Invitational in Fayette, MO.

New School Record Highlights Effort at Southern Stampede

The HLG cross country team made their longest trip of the season over the weekend as they traveled to Joplin, MO to compete in the 22nd annual Southern Stampede. The meet, which was hosted by Missouri Southern State University, featured numerous NAIA and NCAA nationally ranked schools and the competition brought out the best in a number of the HLG runners.

THE WOMEN
RESULTS
The women ran to a 27th place finish at the Stampede and their effort was highlighted by the performance of freshman Breanna Newton, who completed the 5K course in a school record time of 18:35. Breanna's effort earned her a 33rd place finish out of 302 competitors. In addition, she was the 4th place NAIA finisher and top NAIA freshman performer in the talented field. Freshman Mandi Riddle had a strong performance, as the newcomer to cross country continued her rapid improvement by finishing the race in a time of 20:56. Mandi's time was a nearly two-minute improvement from last week's race. Sophomores Jessica Bailey (22:19) and Sarah Erickson (22:40), both trying to overcome early season injuries, finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, for the Lady Trojans, while freshman newcomer Amber Zinkula had a strong showing in her first collegiate meet, crossing the line in 22:42 and earning the 5th place team finish. HLG also got strong efforts from sophomore Liz Wilder (23:04) and Carissa Eichmeyer (23:39).

COACH COMMENTS: The ladies came out today and showed a lot of effort and heart. Obviously Breanna had a great race and was rewarded with the new school record time. What also impressed me was the improvement of some of our newcomers to XC. What many people don't realize is that Mandi, Liz, and Amber are all new to cross country this year and they are all in our top-seven. They continue to show great improvements each week and I expect that to continue. We are still struggling with some injuries that are holding us back from reaching our potential as a team but we are starting to progress and, with three weeks of training before our next meet, we are going to be able to really focus on getting better, faster, and tougher.

THE MEN
RESULTS
The men's team overcame some adversity to bring home a 20th-place finish at the meet. Junior Philiph Tonui had an outstanding day, earning a 19th place finish with a time of 25:02, just one second off of his own school record time. The team lost #2 runner Brett Jones who was unable to complete the race due to the extreme heat but senior Jason Cline stepped up and raced to a time of 28:38, just a few seconds off of his personal best. Freshman Tyler Malone finished 3rd for the Trojans (29:00) with junior Deon Russell (30:01) and sophomore Ben Griffin (30:34) rounding out the scoring effort.

COACH COMMENTS: It was kind of a hard-luck day for the guys today. Brett was having a great race before the heat got to him and Ben's time was adversely affected because he stopped to check on his teammate, which was the right thing to do. With that said, I think that both Philiph and Jason ran fantastic races and were rewarded with great finishing times. Deon has been battling injures and is not in race shape, so I was proud of how he came out and competed. Once he gets healthy he is really going to help us out. To have all of the adversity today and still be just behind some of our conference rivals, I feel pretty good about where we are. We'll use the upcoming break from competition to crank up the intensity with training and get these guys ready to be their best down the home stretch.

The team has a few weeks to prepare for their next competition, which takes place October 9 at Central Methodist University.

HLG Men and Women Victorious at Home Invite

Philiph Tonui and Breanna Newton racing to victory at the 2010 HLG Invitational

On a tough course made even more difficult by three inches of rain that fell the night before, the Hannibal-LaGrange cross country teams pushed through and gained victories at the 2nd annual Hannibal-LaGrange Invitational on Saturday.

THE WOMEN
RESULTS
The women boasted 5 top-ten finishes on the day en route to a winning team score of 17 points on the day. Freshman Breanna Newton earned her first race victory as a collegiate athlete, finishing the grueling 5K in a time of 21:11. Fellow freshman Mandi Riddle continued her rapid improvement, placing 3rd overall, with sophomore teammate Jessica Bailey right behind in 4th place. Sophomore Liz Wilder also raced well in her first collegiate 5K, finishing in 7th place. Sophomore Sarah Erickson also collected a top-10 finish, taking the 9th spot overall. Carissa Eichmeyer (11th), Bryanna Reynolds (16th), and Chelsea Holmstrom (17th) also contributed strong efforts for the Lady Trojans. Assistant Coach Beth Scott took to the course and placed second overall in the race.

THE MEN
RESULTS
The men cruised to victory on the heels of 6 top-10 finishes, including junior Philiph Tonui, who repeated as the meet champion. Philiph's 8K time of 28:10 was over two minutes ahead of teammate Brett Jones, whose second place finish was the highest of his XC career. Freshman Tyler Malone fared well in his first collegiate 8K, placing 4th, while senior Jason Cline (6th), Ben Griffin (7th), and Nathan Uding (8th) pushed each other throughout the race. Freshman Greg Stahlman made his debut and finished 16th overall.

COACH COMMENTS
It was a great day to be a part of the HLG family today. We are grateful that the Lord blessed us with health and safety today in what were rough field conditions. Both teams came out and competed very well today. If you were to look at the times today, you would wonder what happened but, let me tell you, our home course is the toughest we will run all season. Add that to the fact that we got several inches of rain the night before, and that makes for treacherous conditions. Footing was very difficult throughout the course and the times reflected that. However, we said going in that our goal was to be at the front of the pack and to run aggressively and that is exactly what we did.

Both Breanna and Philiph dominated their respective races but the rest of the team showed that they are also capable of making an impact. I thought that Brett Jones really stepped up today and was rewarded with a runner-up finish. Our girls are finally getting healthy and the trio of Mandi, Jessica, and Liz all had great races. After competing in these conditions, it sets the stage to hopefully head down to Joplin next week and really open it up on that course.

WHAT'S NEXT
The team will makes it's longest road trip of the season next weekend to take part in the prestigious Southern Stampede, hosted by Missouri Southern State University. Both the women's 5K and men's 8K will take place on the MSSU campus beginning at 9am on Saturday, September 18.

We want to extend a special thanks to everyone who came out today to support the team. It seemed like we had fans at every corner of the course and there was no doubt that it helped push the teams to victory!

Trojans Open Season at Big River Early Bird

RESULTS

The Hannibal-LaGrange cross country team kicked off the 2010 season by traveling to Forest Park in St. Louis for the Big River Running Early Bird meet.

THE MEN
The men's team put out a strong opening effort to finish 9th out of 16 collegiate teams in the meet. The Trojans were led by junior Philiph Tonui who placed 10th overall in the 6 kilometer race in a time of 19:43, which broke his own school record for the 4k distance. Freshman Tyler Malone had a solid debut, finishing 73rd out of 209 competitors in a time of 21:28. Juniors Jason Cline (22:02) and Brett Jones (22:15) both dropped over a minute off of their time from a year ago and sophomore Nathan Uding (22:42) rounded out the scoring effort for the Trojans. Sophomore Ben Griffin was the 6th HLG runner to finish the race (22:51) while junior Deon Russell, who had a great start ruined by a hamstring injury, toughed it out to finish in a time of 23:28.

COACH COMMENTS: I was pleased with the guys' effort today. Philly is just now starting to work his way back into shape after recovering from a foot injury so it was good to see him take a top ten finish in his first race. He faded a bit towards the end, but he persevered and showed he belonged with the best. But he feels great and his training is coming along, so watch out! Tyler has been slowed by a pulled groin but he came out and competed well i his first race. I expect to see his times continue to plummet as he gains more confidence and gets back to the full training schedule. Jason and Brett ran well today and we will need them to continue to push the other guys as we go along. It was a bummer to see Deon fight through an injury as he had a great start to the race. We need to get him better because we'll need him to contribute in a major way. We've got a lot of work to do, but I really like this group and expect them to continue to make big strides in the coming weeks.

THE WOMEN
The women's team competed well in their race, finishing 9th out of 16 teams. Freshman Breanna Newton had a fantastic collegiate debut today, as the Rochelle, IL native finished 8th overall in a very competitive race. Her time of 15:39 not only earned her top-10 honors, but also set a new school record for the 4 kilometer distance. Fellow freshman Mandi Riddle was the second Lady Trojan to cross the line, finishing in 52nd place out of 147 runners with a time of 17:26. Sophomores Jessica Bailey (18:22) and Sarah Erickson (18:41) finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, for HLG while sophomore Liz Wilder (19:03) wrapped up the scoring for HLG in her cross country debut. Seniors Carissa Eichmeyer (20:03) and Janelle McGinniss (20:23), along with freshmen Bryanna Reynolds (21:01) and Chelsea Holmstrom (21:40) rounded out the effort for the Lady Trojans.

COACH COMMENTS: I was really proud with how the ladies came out and competed today. We have been wrecked by injuries and I was just happy to get all 10 of them to the starting line. The times were not great overall, but that is indicative of where we are from a training standpoint. As we get healthy, this group will improve by leaps and bounds. With that said, I thought that Breanna ran really well in her first college race. She proved immediately that she belonged and she knows that she is going to get even better as the season progresses. Mandi, Jess, and Sarah have hardly trained due to various injuries, so for them to come out and perform like they did shows the kind of heart we have on this team. I was impressed with Liz and Janelle who both ran in a cross country meet for the first time today and did great. There's a lot to like about this group and I look forward to seeing them get healthy and reach their great potential.

The Trojans will remain at home this weekend to host the second annual HLG Trojan Invitational on Saturday, September 11. HLG will welcome fellow American Midwest Conference member Missouri Baptist, along with Culver-Stockton, Quincy University, and Benedictine University-Springfield to Hannibal for the race, which will take place on the HLG campus beginning at 10:00am.

XC Pre-Season Update

With the 2010 cross country season upon us, we wanted to take time to catch everyone up on what has been a very busy preseason for the Hannibal-LaGrange cross country team.

On August 5, the team arrived in Hannibal and quickly got their belongings put away before embarking on a 1,000 mile journey to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where the team had a week-long training camp.

After an overnight stop in Hendersonville, NC (thanks to the fine folks at FBC Hendo for letting us crash in their amazing youth center), we finished the long trek to the beach on Saturday afternoon. After getting settled into our beach house we were met by a rain storm and got to start our first team training run in the rain. After we got some dinner, the team wrapped up the first day with a worship service and team building.On Sunday we attended church at Wellspring Church, a year-old church plant that meets in the movie theater at Broadway at the Beach. They were stoked to see 25 out-of-towners roll in and we enjoyed getting to worship with them. We spent the afternoon enjoying the beach and wrapped up the day by moving our team worship service beach side, where we attracted several onlookers both on the beach and in the nearby condo. It was amazing to worship our amazing Lord in such a beautiful setting and we made it our regular devotional place for the week with team members and coaches rotating music and speaking duties. In a word...AMAZING!

I could go on and on describing each day in great detail but I will sum up some highlights. We ran (a lot), we ate (a lot), and a team that included a dozen newcomers came together in a way a coach could only dream of. We enjoyed all that the beach had to offer, including playing some night mini-golf, visiting some of the many surf shops (where they want you to think that everything is $5.99), and checking out Ripley's Aquarium.

In addition, we spent part of Thursday with the fine folks at the Community Kitchen of Myrtle Beach, where we helped them clean out and reorganize the freezer they use to keep food that feeds hundreds of folks each day. We got to hang out with Beth and Nancy and we were all inspired by their servant's hearts and enthusiasm to make a difference. We left them with a nicely organized freezer, but we left with much more.

The evenings were always fun with numerous team beach walks worked around a Karaoke night and, what has become the ultimate HLG XC camp tradition...SKIT NIGHT! The team split up into groups and and came up with one hilarious skit after another and even the coaches got involved in the action.

As a coach, I was so proud of how the team came together and bonded. A week far way from home living in close quarters can test even the most patient, but this group has something about them that makes me think we are in for something special this year. We've been back on campus for over a week now and, with the rest of the HLG students moving in starting tomorrow, the team has it's sights set on our first meet on September 4.

Training has been going pretty well, and I am excited to see this group get to race. With so many newcomers, the team has a brand new look. However, the common goal remains the same as it always has...to honor Christ through all our team does. I saw a lot of that over the past three weeks and we pray that we'll be able to continue to put Him first.

There is a lot to be excited about this season. The men's team is ranked 2nd in the preseason American Midwest Conference ratings and, for the first time received a vote for the NAIA top-25. The women's team is ranked 3rd in the AMC preseason poll and has their eyes set on improving that. I don't put much stock in ratings, especially in the preseason but it is safe to say that this year's team has expectations like no other team before at HLG. I believe we have the talent, heart, and desire to be special, and I can't wait to get started!

We'll get some more pictures of our training camp trip up soon, as well as some athlete profiles. We'd also like to ask that you remember the cross country team at California Baptist University in your prayers as they were recently involved in an accident while on the way to their preseason training camp that injured a number of their student-athletes and claimed the life of a coach. More information can be found HERE.