Barr takes conference title as Scots men place second

Release Date: November 2, 2004

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Zach Barr’s to-do list just got a little bit shorter.

The junior running star for Monmouth College has lots of things he wants to accomplish while competing in cross country and track for the Fighting Scots, and his feet led to a big feat Saturday – first place at the Midwest Conference Championships in Sherwood, Wis.

Barr’s winning effort helped Monmouth make a huge jump from a year ago, when the team placed eighth. A healthier, much-deeper Scots team placed second this year, in the process netting MC’s Roger Haynes Co-Coach of the Year honors.

“The race evolved the way we thought it would,” said Haynes, referring to his targeting of Barr and four other runners as the pre-race favorites. “The top five hung together for the first three-and-a-half or four miles, and then Zach started knocking them off one at a time until the finish.”

Barr crossed the finish line in 25:58 to win the race by seven seconds. He became the third men’s runner from Monmouth to win an MWC title and the first since Jamie Verstraete in 1996.

“They let the race play into his hands,” added Haynes. “Instead of someone going out fast, they were content to let Zach have the lead early on. Once he was ahead, we felt confident with his ability to finish strong in the last mile. This should be a nice stepping stone for him to do well in the (Nov. 13) regional and at nationals.”

Barr wasn’t the only Monmouth runner to excel Saturday, as Anthony Welty, Kel Bond and Scott Heair all earned all-conference honors. Welty was particularly impressive, entering the race ranked 15th and moving up to an eighth-place finish in 27:03. Bond was 10 seconds back in 11th place.

“Anthony ran extremely well and beat a number of kids he hadn’t beaten this season,” said Haynes.

Heair completed the 8K course in 16th place (27:38), and Monmouth’s other scorer was Aaron Etienne (23rd, 28:17), who missed all-conference honors by 11 seconds.

That the Scots possess a much deeper team this season can be shown by the performance of the team’s No. 12 performer, Matt Henning, whose time of 30:16 would have scored for two teams.

Rounding out Monmouth’s men’s runners were Adam Rodriguez (28:49), Seth Leitner (29:06), Matt Moehn (29:26), Sean Fitzgerald (29:28) and Ken Stachorek (29:51).

The most improved time for Monmouth’s men since they raced at the course in Sherwood in September came from Rodriguez, who trimmed 2:01 off his previous effort. Other big improvements came from Moehn (1:49) and Henning (1:01). Even Barr is getting significantly better, as he covered the course 33 seconds faster.

The same injury situation that hurt the men’s team last year was present for the women at the MWC Championships, as the team competed without two of its stronger runners, Aleksandra Forsman and Sara Ingersoll. But Tiffanie York had a strong race, earning All-MWC honors by placing fifth in the 5K race in 19:59.

“She was almost two minutes faster than the last time we ran this course,” praised Haynes. “She ran exceptionally well and with a lot of confidence.”

When asked if York, like Barr, aspires to a conference title of her own, Haynes said yes, and noted that York’s top competition for that honor will be around for a while, as the top six finishers were all freshmen. York was just a second out of fourth place and less than 20 seconds away from runner-up.

Rounding out Monmouth’s scorers were Joni Nelson (41st, 22:00 – an improvement of 54 seconds from September), Erin Mann (50th, 22:47), Audrey Bellefeuille (52nd, 22:54) and Laura Turk (55th, 23:03). Also competing were Ashley Gaul (23:25), Carissa Young (24:13) and Kelly Caruso (26:34).

“I was really impressed with how they were willing to run,” said Haynes of Bellefeuille and Turk, who competed for the first time this season after participating in women’s soccer. “They made a huge difference in how we scored.”

Monmouth placed eighth in the women’s competition, which was won by Grinnell. The Pioneers also claimed the men’s title, but Haynes feels the day could be coming sooner than later when Monmouth’s men can unseat the defending champs. Three of Grinnell’s five scorers competed in their last MWC meet, while Monmouth loses no runners for next season.

Men's Cross Country  |  Women's Cross Country