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11.03.07 -
Running in a tough regional cross country meet that included three of the top
fifteen NAIA nationally ranked teams, the Forester men showcased their own
talents with a third place finish.
HU, ranked 20th in the last NAIA poll,
finished with a score of 89 behind second-ranked Aquinas (48) and
fourth-ranked Cornerstone (56). The Foresters earned some revenge by
placing ahead of Indiana Wesleyan (104), who edged HU for the MCC title two
weeks earlier. Fifth place went to Indiana Tech (125) followed by Siena
Heights (138), Taylor (168), Spring Arbor (236), Goshen (241), Bethel (278),
Marian (291), Madonna (358), Grace (389) and Concordia (403).
"We ran well against the #2 and #4 teams in
the nation, and they're legit," said Coach King. "They didn't beat us
by all that much."
After each runner posted a season best time in
the conference meet, the Foresters continued to show improvement by
duplicating the feat in the regional event. HU placed three runners in
the top 11 with each earning NAIA All-Region honors. Freshman Tobias
Sauter, running in just his second race of the season, paced the Foresters
with an eighth place finish in 25:34.03. Joseph Njeri and Nick Johnson
were just two seconds behind in tenth and eleventh place with times of
25:36.49 and 25:36.80 respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Foresters
were Dan Lindbloom, who was 24th in 26:04.32 and Luke Diehl who finished 37th
in 26:40.47. Michael Lehman (53rd, 27:13.40) and Luke Andrews (77th,
28:06.44) also ran for HU.
"The kids really ran well," said Coach
King. "Those are all outstanding times. We've just been getting better
and better all year, and we can run faster yet."
In the
women's meet, the Foresters finished 14th of 15 teams with a score of 362 to
bring their season to a close.
Indiana Tech took the women's title with a team score of 59 followed by
Indiana Wesleyan (64), Spring Arbor (69), Aquinas (108), Cornerstone (152),
Siena Heights (164), Bethel (211), Taylor (219), Goshen (260), Marian (292),
Grace (292), Madonna (333), St. Francis (353), HU (362) and Davenport (481).
Jill Roughia
was HU's top finisher with a time of 19:44.77, nearly 30 seconds faster than
her previous best, to finish 40th. Michelle Kyler crossed in 21:17.50
for a 93rd place finish. Ashley Buck posted a 22:20.88 for 115th place. Bradie
Vance was 121st in 22:36.68 and Joanna Stebing was 125th in 22:59.57.
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