September 5, 2005

Season Update: Dana’s men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their first meet of the season Saturday. The Viking harriers hosted York College and Peru State College at the Dana Open. The women’s team won the meet, with no other teams fielding a complete squad. The men’s team competed with four runners, not qualifying for a team score.

McMillan and Kaup Win Dana Open: Dana’s Dru McMillan (4th Yr, Gillette, WY) and John Kaup (3rd Yr, Grand Island, NE) started the ’05 season on top as they both took home individual championships at the Dana Open. McMillan won the women’s 5,000 meter race in 22:10, and Kaup took home the gold in the 8,000 meter race with a 28:42.

Newcomers Impressive: The 2005 season boasts one of the largest recruiting classes ever for the Dana women’s squad and the young runners didn’t disappoint. Leading the first-year contingent at the Dana Open was Amy Jackman (1st Yr, Seward, NE), finishing 6th overall in 23:26. Jackman was Dana’s fourth scoring runner. Alyssa Mueller (1st Yr, Seward, NE) showed no signs of freshman jitters, finishing 8th overall, Dana’s sixth scoring runner. Rounding out Dana’s newcomer list was Christine Galata (1st Yr, Omaha, NE/Omaha Marian) and Tina Castle (1st Yr, Farrugut, IA), finishing 13th and 16th overall. On the men’s side, Billie Sidebottom (1st Yr, Council Bluffs/Abraham Lincoln) ran a fine first collegiate race with an 11th place finish.

New Course Proves Tough: The Dana Open ushered in a new era for both the 5,000 meter and 8,000 meter courses. Both courses received major facelifts over the summer, with head coach Derek Fey and assistant coach Shane Jackman deciding to redesign them for next year’s conference race at Dana. While the new routes eliminated one of the tough hills in Niehardt Park, they both added difficult terrain and rolling hills in the middle sections of each race.

Grooming A 5th Man: Soccer midfielder Nick Ricceri (Blair, NE) ran unattached in the men’s race at the Dana Open Saturday. The freshman ran to an impressive seventh place finish with a time of 33:15 on the tough course. Ricceri is expected to run for the Vikings on Saturdays that he doesn’t have commitments with soccer. “I was very impressed with Nick’s performance. He will be a great addition to our men’s team when available,” Dana Head Coach Derek Fey said.

Tough Alumni Group: The men’s race included a contingent of former Dana runners. John Tripp ’02, a teacher at Omaha South High School, finished 2nd overall in the men’s race. Ben Sandy ’98 and Jason Brindle ’01 finished together in 4-5th place with a time of 31:09. Brindle teaches at Otte Middle School in Blair, and Sandy is stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue. The three alumni accumulated a combined seven NAIA All-American plaques in their cross country/track careers at Dana.

Weekly Quote from the Coach: “I was really pleased with how our runners dealt with the heat and other obstacles. Our positive attitude toward adversity will serve us well down the road. Our 1:51 pack time for the women was good for the first meet, though I know we can get lower. The men looked very strong on the tough course, and battled well against a tough group of alumni runners. If we find a fifth runner before season’s end, we will be in the mix of things by conference.”