The damage from the summer’s floods caused the men’s
and women’s cross country teams to compete in the annual
Brissman-Lundeen Invitational at the Saukie Golf Course in Rock
Island instead of the Quad Cities.
The men placed eighth out of 28 teams in the 8K (five mile) race
and the women received 11th place out of 27 teams in the 6K
(3.72 miles).
A pair of outstanding performances
by sophomore Mary Kate Beyer and sophomore Scott Sheller has led
to Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honors for the
Scots.
Sophomore Mary Kate Beyer posted the
fastest 6K time of the season in the Midwest Conference, as she
was rewarded with sixth place in the field of 315 runners. Beyer
clocked in at 22:40.4.
Junior Katie Staab placed two
minutes behind Beyer, taking 38th place with a time of 24:04.0.
Leading the 3-7 pack, junior Briana Flynn crossed the finish
line at 25:05.5, taking 82nd. Junior Taryn Tang placed five
seconds ahead of junior Jayme Ayers (25:22.7) with a time of
25:17.4.
Freshman Ashley Szabo placed not too
far behind with 25:26.4, finishing in 102nd place. Junior Amy
Aghababian ran with a time of 25:46.5 and received 115th place.
Sophomore Whitney Didier finished in 157th, with a time of
27:03.0.
"Last weekend, we had a strong pack;
our one through seven runners ran pretty well and Mary (Kate
Beyer) and the girls ran very consistently," said junior Sara
Ditzler. Ditzler contributed to the Scots by placing 184th at
27:46.0 and sophomore Brooke Potendyk finished up at 28:06.3,
with 194th place overall.
The men also performed well in the
8K, as junior Brad Begyn led them with a 31st place finish in a
time of 26:42.7. Sophomore Scott Sheller finished right behind
Begyn in 39th place, posting a lifetime best of 50 seconds at
26:56.6. Junior Clay Staley finished 12 seconds behind Sheller
(27:08.6), taking 50th place.
Freshman Jon Welty paced the 4-7
pack with a time of 27:51.5, taking 84th place out of 343
runners in the field. Sophomore Geoff Bird clocked in at
28:06.8, receiving 98th place overall, as sophomore Matt Peharda
placed 116th at 28:19.1. Sophomore Craig Maher ran the 8K in
28:39.1, rounding off the Scots scoring in 143rd place.
"Right now, we are working on
recovering throughout the week as we prepare for this weekend.
All the girls this year have a great opportunity to do well as
opposed to last season for us," added Ditzler.
The Fighting Scots will compete in
the Pre-NCAA Nationals this weekend on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the
L.S. Ayers Athletic Complex in Hanover, Ind. The men will start
at 11 a.m. and the women will contend at noon. The meet will be
held at the site of the NCAA Championships later in November.
