The Monmouth College Fighting Scots cross country team wrapped up an impressive season with a strong showing at the Midwestern Conference championships.

The men finished third. Four male harriers were named all-conference runners: sophomore Clay Staley, who finished second in the race; senior Adam Rodriguez, who finished 13th; sophomore Brad Begyn, who finished 17th; and junior Damon Bautista, who finished 18th.

The women also finished strong, placing fifth overall. Freshman Mary-Kate Beyer and sophomore Katie Staab were honored as all-conference runners. Beyer placed fifth in the race and Staab ninth.

Senior Adam Rodriguez, known as “A-Rod” to his teammates, commented on the 2007-2008 cross country season, stating, “It is hard to have expectations when you do not know most of the team, but after our first few practices I knew that we would have a good team. Watching our younger runners really step up to the plate had me very excited about the season and also excites me for the upcoming track season. Derek Huff and Scott Sheller had great seasons. Both of them in the beginning were decent runners but really stepped up at conference and before conference and showed what they were made of. Scott broke into the 27s and I think Derek was knocking on the door, which is awesome for both of them.” 

Regarding the success of the team this season, Rodriquez further remarked, “This team in my eyes was thought of not being as good as other teams in the past, but we faired well in our meets just as good and in some cases better than previous teams that I have been on with better quality runners. Clay [Staley] and Brad [Begyn] are great runners and I think they will be the backbone of this team next year like they were this year. Those two are going to be great, and I believe they both have not even come close to being as good as they will be. That goes for everyone, too; the young guys on the team will get so much better, and it kind of sucks not being able to come back to run with them and watch how good they are going to be.”

Staley concurred with Rodriquez’s positive comments and stated, “Overall, I think the season went well. Many of the guys ran personal bests throughout the year. We were a relatively young team, but we improved drastically from the beginning of the season to the end. Coach Haynes geared a lot of our training to improve individually, meaning he didn’t just do the same thing for everyone. The season was fun and went well.”

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