October 19, 1997

  Monmouth,IL -- Monmouth College hosted the 17th annual Division III Illinois State Cross Country Meet on Saturday at Monmouth City Park and the Fighting Scots ran well enough to keep some hardware. The meet featured entries from nine men's and women's NCAA Division III schools from throughout Illinois and was run under ideal weather conditions which made for fast times. Monmouth placed 3rd in the men's standings and the women finished 4th and both squads were awarded team plaques for their efforts.

The top four teams and top 20 individuals received awards. Augustana won the women's meet with 31 points, followed by Chicago (56), Elmhurst (62) and Monmouth (98). Elmhurst's score of 38 points topped the men's field, bettering North Central (54), Monmouth (74) and Knox (78).

Carrie Knauer (Strawn,IL/Prairie Central) highlighted the day for the women as the senior finished 11th overall to become the first Monmouth female to win four consecutive All-State medals. Her time of 18:42 on the three-mile course was also a new Monmouth record, breaking the old mark of 19:01 set by Angie Hickerson in 1986. Junior Gretchen Vandergriff (Wolcott,IN/Greenwood) chased Knauer across the line in 12th place and also broke the 19-minute barrier, clocking 18:49 for her third All-State honor and a junior class 3-mile record. The Scots used another tight pack effort to secure the final team award, putting their next three runners in the chute four seconds apart in places 24-25-26. Sophomore Dara Pagel (Lincoln, IL/HS) was the third Scot runner at 19:36 and seniors Rita McQuinn (Mason City,IL/Illini Central) and Kathleen Yarger (Belvidere,IL/HS) both came in 19:40. Monmouth's top seven was rounded out by sophs Jennifer Hoffman (Orland Park,IL/Sandburg) in 30th place (19:55) and Ann Moody (Yates City,IL/ Farmington) in 36th place (20:45). Freshman Karen Kraus (Belleville,IL/West) was the first MC female in the open race at 21:33.

Senior Frank Schweda (Rolling Meadows,IL/HS) claimed the highest individual place for Monmouth, finishing 3rd in the men's 5-mile at 26:43, with sophomore Jamie Nelson (Monmouth,IL/HS) also in the top ten (7th place, 26:59). The times rank as the 5th^- and 7th-fastest ever run on the park course by a Monmouth male. Freshman Tony Miles (Moline,IL/ HS) made it three All-Staters with his 15th-place effort of 27:12 and seniors Matt Clemen (Naples,FL/Cascade) (24th, 27:46) and Joel Eckberg (Walnut,IL/HS) (26th, 27:51) were the fourth and fifth men for the Scots. Jason Dare (Elmwood,IL/Farmington) (32,28:41) and Ken Williams (Edwardsville, IL/HS) (34, 29:12) added season-PR performances to close out the Scots' seven scoring runners. Sophomore Clint LaFary (Green Valley,IL/Delavan) was actually the team's 6th finisher, running 28:24 for fifth place in the open division.

"The weather was perfect for racing and our runners came through with some outstanding efforts and five All-State medals," said Monmouth coach Chris Pio. "Carrie and Gretchen were tremendous up front for us with record-breaking runs in the women's race and we were solid again seven-deep. The men had their best 1-5 and 1-7 pack splits of the season , so we are putting it all together at the right time. We are pointing to our best races of the season at the conference championships in two weeks."

The teams take a week off from competition before leaving for the MWC Conference Meet in Grinnell, Iowa on November 1st. The men are the defending team champions from 1996 and the women placed third last year.