MC cross country teams seek improvements at MWC meet

MONMOUTH, Ill. — A year ago, the Fighting Scots men’s and women’s cross country teams finished second and seventh, respectively, at the Midwest Conference Championships. At this year’s meet, which will be run Saturday in Green Bay, Wis., both squads are looking for improvements, even if the places remain the same.

The men had three All-MWC runners last year, but two of them – Charlie Sunderlage and Cory Shook – are not on this year’s team. So improvement for the Scots would be getting some new runners into the all-conference mix.

Five runners have a shot at their first All-MWC honor, including four seniors who will be making their last appearance at a league meet – Bryan Bittner, Frank Clark, Aaron Calder and David Dare. Classmate Matt Hargleroad already has one All-MWC honor and is hoping for a repeat.

“Our seniors will have to come through,” said coach Roger Haynes. “Any one of them can be all-conference if they run a top-notch race.”

In the league’s list of top times, Grinnell, which has won 15 of the last 16 MWC titles, has the top five runners entering the meet, so it would take some doing for the Scots to dethrone the defending champs. Monmouth enters the meet with runners ranked 6-9-15-16-17 in the team scoring, which would be good for second on paper, ahead of Knox and Ripon teams that Haynes feels will put up a challenge.

“St. Norbert could also be a threat running on their home course,” he added.

With the top 15 runners earning All-MWC honors, the opportunity is there for several Scots to finish among the league’s elite, particularly freshman Zach Barr, who has emerged as the team’s No. 1 runner with a top 8K time of 26:30.

While the recent miserable Midwest weather will be the same for all MWC teams, Haynes is hoping for a drier course on Saturday because of his more sprint-oriented runners, particularly Bittner and Calder.

On the women’s side, the team title figures to be very much up for grabs. The host Green Knights have three women ranked in the top 10 of the league, so they’ll be considered the favorites, but, like the rest of the field, they don’t have a No. 5 runner ranked among the top 25.

That’s where Monmouth’s No. 5 runner, junior Jeana Fowler, comes in. If she can improve her current No. 41 ranking in the team standings by, say, 10 spots, the Scots will certainly improve on last season’s finish and could move up as high as third.

“We’d like to improve on our seventh-place finish,” said Haynes. “We think we’re a better team than we were a year ago, but we just have to show it in comparison to the other conference schools.

“I like the consistency of our top four runners, and Jeana’s been coming on lately,” he added. “I like Lindsey Whately’s and Aleksandra Forsman’s chances to be all-conference, and the opportunity is there for Elizabeth Altekruse and Erin Mann.”