2010 NAIA XC National Qualifiers Philiph and Breanna
RESULTS
On Saturday, November 6, the men's and women's cross country teams at Hannibal-LaGrange University took to the course in St. Louis, MO for the American Midwest Conference Championships. Under ideal racing conditions, both teams ran to 4th place finishes in their respective races.
For the women, freshman Breanna Newton led the way with a 6th-place finish (19:21), which placed her on the AMC All-Conference team. In addition, Breanna became the first HLG female cross country athlete to qualify for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships! Breanna's effort was not the only high point for the Lady Trojans as the injury plagued team put together their most complete effort of the season. Freshman Amber Zinkula battled through a hip injury to finish in 14th place (20:56) and just three spots out of earning a bid to the national meet. Fellow freshman Mandi Riddle was close behind, placing 16th with a time of 21:04. Sophomore Sarah Erickson saved her best race for last as the Bowling Green, MO native set a new personal best with a time of 21:12, good for 18th place. Sophomore Lisbeth Wilder also set a new personal best, finishing the 5K in 22:30 (25th place). Senior Carissa Eichmeyer finished her XC career with a 29th place finish in a season-best time of 23:10. Freshman Kayle Anders (31st - 23:27) and senior Janelle McGinniss (34th - 24:45) both battled through nagging injuries to set personal best times as well.
COACH COMMENTS: I was very pleased at how hard the ladies ran today. There is not one of them who hasn't had to deal with some sort of injury this season; it's just been that kind of year. However, they have kept their heads high, stayed positive, trusted the Lord, and done their best to take care of themselves and the end result was a great day. I am so proud of how Breanna came out and competed today. She has been pretty much just cross training since the Graceland meet and neither of us were sure what to expect today. She wanted to go out and honor the Lord with her effort today and did that and so much more. She earned a trip to compete at the NAIA National meet in Washington state and we will work to get her back up to speed so he can excel there.
I was also just so proud of all of the girls, regardless of times and places. Amber and Mandi stayed strong throughout and will both be a force to be reckoned with next year. I was most pleased with Sarah and how she ran such a consistent meet. She has been running with increased confidence and it showed today. She can go even faster and I expect to see that during the track season. I want to give props to Liz for showing up strong today and filling in our 5th spot, setting a PR by 35 seocnds in the process! She has made great strides as a first-year runner and her heart and desire to compete is huge! Kayle was another one I was excited about today. She has been sidelined by injuries almost all season but came out with little training to set a new PR. Another freshman, she is going to be very solid for us in the future. Bryanna was in the same boat injury wise but gave a gutsy performance and also set a new personal best time.
Finally I want to give notice to our two seniors. Carissa has been steady all year and gave it all she had today. Her family are such great supporters of our program and they will all be missed next year. Now she can resume her race walking and look to repeat as a double national qualifier this year. Janelle almost had to pack it in due to chronic injuries but she has stayed dedicated to her rehab and was able to come out and set a new personal best time today. She is graduating next month and I know she can walk away with great satisfaction based on her effort today. Both of these ladies have stepped up as leaders and will be greatly missed.
In the men's event, which included teams from the American Midwest Conference, Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, and and Independent institution, junior Philiph Tonui ran a fantastic race, placing 4th in a time of 24:58 on the 8K course. With that effort, Philiph will make a return trip to the NAIA XC National meet. After Philiph, a trio of Trojans came in together as senior Jason Cline (24th - 27:48), junior Brett Jones (25th 28:08), and freshman Tyler Malone (27th - 28:14) all ran very strong races. Sophomore Ben Griffin battled through sickness to place 38th overall (29:46) while junior Deon Russell re-aggravated a hamstring injury but toughed it out to place 39th (29:55). Sophomore Nathan Uding (41st - 30:48) rounded out the effort for the Trojans.
COACH COMMENT: This has been a great group of guys to work with and I am happy the top part of the group was able to go out and have a strong race. Philiph is a rock star on our campus and he came out and gave a rock star effort today. He is so humble and goes about his business every day but he is a great competitor and really ran a smart race. We had a game plan going in that he executed extremely well. As a result, he is making a return trip to Vancouver, where I think he will have a great showing. I am so proud of Jason and how he has dedicated himself during his senior year to developing his potential. He and Brett both pushed each other so well today and had great races as a result. Tyler has come on over the past few weeks and has shown great promise as a freshman. Deon's injury was a real bummer for us but he showed great heart in pushing through. Overall this team really worked hard this year and set a new standard for future men's teams.
Breanna and Philip will now move on to the NAIA XC National Championships, which will take place November 20 in Vancouver, Washington. A number of cross country runners will keep in training as they prepare for the Midland Lutheran Half-Marathon on December 3 in Fremont, NE. The rest of the team will take a short break from training before preparing for the upcoming indoor track & field season, where both the men's and women's teams will be gunning for a conference championship.
Stay tuned to the runHLG blog for updates on the XC national championship experience.
Stay tuned to the runHLG blog for updates from nationals.
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