Zach Barr at last year's MWC Championships

MONMOUTH, Ill. — To say Monmouth College’s Zach Barr has been running continuously for a year would be a little misleading. The statement stirs images of Forrest Gump trekking all over the United States, his beard and his following growing with every mile.

What Barr has done, though, is log training or race mileage every day for more than 365 straight days. The accomplishment he reached in early August could carry him to the greatest distance career in Fighting Scots’ history. Already, he’s placed fifth and second at his first two conference meets, and last fall he qualified individually for the NCAA Division III Championships, placing 68th.

Along the way, Barr’s shaggy red hair – the object of frequent needling from athletic director Terry Glasgow – has actually been reduced in length. The close-cropped Barr does have a Gump-like following, though, and that included every participant in the Hog Days Run in Kewanee in the Fighting Scots’ season opener Saturday. His first-place time of 20:41 for four miles was best on the day, 20 seconds ahead of the next two runners, teammates Darrin VanNattan and Kel Bond.

“That’s certainly a good milestone for him,” said MC coach Roger Haynes of Barr’s year-plus training stretch. “Hopefully, he’s looking to the quality component of his training. He wants to be an All-American, and to finish in the top 30 he would have had to run 38 seconds faster last year.

“He’s put in every bit of the work that needs to be done,” added Haynes. “He’s upped the ante from a year ago, and I see a lot more strength from him in his upper body.”

While Barr is in great shape, literally, to improve upon his individual honors, Haynes will need other runners to step up if Monmouth is to improve upon its eighth-place showing at last year’s MWC meet. The veteran coach points to VanNattan and Bond and a promising recruiting class as reasons why the Scots should be able to rebound in a big way. Further progress will be made if Anthony Welty can return to form following an injury.

“We think he’ll be where we need him to be by the end of the year,” Haynes said of Welty. “We’ve held him back substantially, but he’s making good progress.”

No official team scores were kept at the Hog Days event, where runners from the general public greatly outnumbered collegiate competitors. Monmouth’s other top five finishers for the men were a pair of freshmen – Kyle Schierer (22:15) and Scott Heiar (22:30). They are joined in Haynes’ recruiting class by sophomore transfers Aaron Etienne, Ryan Gergen and Adam Rodriguez and freshmen Michael Buegner, Matt Henning, Seith Leitner and Matt Moehn.

“I think they can be over time,” said Haynes, when asked if this was Monmouth’s best recruiting class. “A number of them have an opportunity to be strong collegiate cross country runners. We don’t expect any of them to make a huge immediate impact. The future is their best asset.”

Haynes said the class breaks into two categories – true distance runners and athletes who have more of a speed background from their track careers. Schierer has looked like the best of the bunch so far, bringing a combination of those skills to the table.

“He should be in our top five all year,” said Haynes.

The influx of talent figures to result in a much-improved Scots team. Haynes noted that Monmouth’s top six runners at Kewanee – which also included Etienne – topped VanNattan’s 22:46 standard from 2003, when he took third on the team. Just outside that group was veteran Ken Stachorek, who finished in 23:02. Junior Sean Fitzgerald is also a returning MC runner.

On the women’s side, Haynes got quality rather than quantity from his recruiting class. Just one freshman joined the team, but she’s a good one – Delavan’s Tiffanie York, who placed 10th in the state at last year’s Class A meet. In addition, former All-MWC runner Aleksandra Forsman has returned to the team and sophomore Ashley Gaul has joined the program after a year of women’s soccer. Forsman (26:36), York (28:01) and Gaul (30:06) were Monmouth’s top three finishers at Kewanee.

“Tiffanie has a great personality and a great competitive fire,” said Haynes. “She’s already asking all the right questions about how fast she’ll need to run to make all-conference. She’s definitely a threat to be all-conference as a freshman.”

Of Forsman, Haynes said, “She proved what she could do two years ago when she was 12th in the conference. She’s a proven distance runner, and she’ll help lead our program.”

Gaul is an athlete who is “reaping the rewards of her work in the past year,” according to Haynes, who noted she also “has the ability to handle a lot of the physical discomfort that goes along with training for college cross country.”

Joni Nelson (31:04) and Carissa Young (32:24) rounded out the Scots’ top five at Kewanee. Nelson scored for Monmouth last season at the MWC Championships, where the Scots placed seventh. Sara Ingersoll, Erin Mann and Christina Moll also were in the Scots’ top five at the 2003 conference meet, so Haynes has plenty of depth on the women’s squad this year. Like Welty, Ingersoll is recovering from an injury, but she’s an all-conference threat when healthy. Haynes called her and Moll “wild cards” for the team in terms of how they’ll perform down the stretch.

Other runners who could contend for scoring spots are Kelly Caruso, Kila Cox and Jeana Fowler. Additionally, women’s soccer players Audrey Bellefeuille and Laura Turk could contribute late in the season if their team does not reach the MWC playoffs.

“The outlook for the women is very similar to the men,” said Haynes. “I’m confident in what they can accomplish because of their consistency and their background. This is an experienced, veteran team, and I think they’ll be able to continue to improve in the conference standings.”

Monmouth will compete in its first all-college meet Saturday at the Lawrence University Invitational. That High Cliff State Park course will also be the site of the MWC Championships on Oct. 30.

Men's Cross Country  |  Women's Cross Country