2008 Woodie Awards
Cross country runs first race of the season
Alex Voigt
Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
The SCSU men's and women's cross country team kicked off its season competing at the Ron Pynn Invitational meet in Grand Forks, N.D. Friday afternoon.
Consisting of seven teams and more than 100 combine runners, the Ron Pynn Invitational is hosted by the University of North Dakota. This is the second consecutive season the Huskies have begun their competitive season in Grand Forks.
Head coach Seth Mischke believes Ron Pynn is a good first meet for the team to ease into racing, particularly for new runners.
"It's a flat course compared to some of the other courses we'll run during the year, and the weather is usually pretty good for it," said Mischke, who enters his eighth season as the head coach for both cross country and track. "Plus, it's good to get an idea where everyone's at competition-wise so we know what type of training to do for the bigger meets coming up."
However, the timing of the Ron Pynn left something to be desired for Mischke's squad. With the meet taking place Friday, several runners were unable to participate due to class schedule. Consequently, the men's team was only able to field four runners and took an incomplete for a team score.
"It's too bad classes had to get in the way for this meet," Mischke said. "In this sport, it's all about finding a strong five runners that can stay close and push one another to get a good team score."
Despite their score, the men's team had several positives to take away from the meet. First-year runners Ben Wagner and Hady Cherif both showed promise, taking the top two spots for their team's performers. Wagner finished 18th overall with a time of 27:42, and Cherif finished in 28:19, good for 25th.
Sophomore Lucas Pederson and junior Tim Moes also competed for the men's team, finishing 27th and 38th overall respectively.
For the women's team, three out of their six runners were participating in their first collegiate cross country meet. Junior Emily Winans, the top returning runner from last year's squad, once again finished with the top time, finishing 27th with a time of 20:24. Finishing right behind her was sophomore Andrea Borden with a time of 20:26.
Also competing for the women's team were juniors Libbie Sanders, Christa Haonen and Erica Adams and sophomore Paula Marozas. Marozas finished 52nd overall, while Sanders, Halonen and Adams finished 53rd, 59th and incomplete respectively. Their team finished seventh out of seven teams overall.
Overall, Mischke was pleased with how his runners competed.
"I think we started off with some good vibes for the year," Mischke said. "There were some people who had personal best times, and there's others that are capable of more. We'll be expecting more out of both as we go along."
The University of Manitoba won both the men's and women's team competitions, with their runners taking the top spots for male and female individual results as well.
"(Manitoba is) a really good squad, and they've had a good squad for a long time. It's fun to race against them," Mischke said.
The team will compete next at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis Sept. 29.
Consisting of seven teams and more than 100 combine runners, the Ron Pynn Invitational is hosted by the University of North Dakota. This is the second consecutive season the Huskies have begun their competitive season in Grand Forks.
Head coach Seth Mischke believes Ron Pynn is a good first meet for the team to ease into racing, particularly for new runners.
"It's a flat course compared to some of the other courses we'll run during the year, and the weather is usually pretty good for it," said Mischke, who enters his eighth season as the head coach for both cross country and track. "Plus, it's good to get an idea where everyone's at competition-wise so we know what type of training to do for the bigger meets coming up."
However, the timing of the Ron Pynn left something to be desired for Mischke's squad. With the meet taking place Friday, several runners were unable to participate due to class schedule. Consequently, the men's team was only able to field four runners and took an incomplete for a team score.
"It's too bad classes had to get in the way for this meet," Mischke said. "In this sport, it's all about finding a strong five runners that can stay close and push one another to get a good team score."
Despite their score, the men's team had several positives to take away from the meet. First-year runners Ben Wagner and Hady Cherif both showed promise, taking the top two spots for their team's performers. Wagner finished 18th overall with a time of 27:42, and Cherif finished in 28:19, good for 25th.
Sophomore Lucas Pederson and junior Tim Moes also competed for the men's team, finishing 27th and 38th overall respectively.
For the women's team, three out of their six runners were participating in their first collegiate cross country meet. Junior Emily Winans, the top returning runner from last year's squad, once again finished with the top time, finishing 27th with a time of 20:24. Finishing right behind her was sophomore Andrea Borden with a time of 20:26.
Also competing for the women's team were juniors Libbie Sanders, Christa Haonen and Erica Adams and sophomore Paula Marozas. Marozas finished 52nd overall, while Sanders, Halonen and Adams finished 53rd, 59th and incomplete respectively. Their team finished seventh out of seven teams overall.
Overall, Mischke was pleased with how his runners competed.
"I think we started off with some good vibes for the year," Mischke said. "There were some people who had personal best times, and there's others that are capable of more. We'll be expecting more out of both as we go along."
The University of Manitoba won both the men's and women's team competitions, with their runners taking the top spots for male and female individual results as well.
"(Manitoba is) a really good squad, and they've had a good squad for a long time. It's fun to race against them," Mischke said.
The team will compete next at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis Sept. 29.