November 7, 2005
Season Update: Dana’s men’s and women’s cross country teams
competed at the NAIA Region III Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
There were 19 schools represented, one of the largest regions in the
country. Since the region was so large, seven individuals not on
nationally bound teams qualified for the national meet, as opposed to
only five individual qualifiers in smaller regions. Dana’s women’s team
finished in 15th place.
Nationally bound: Junior John Kaup (3rd Yr, Grand Island, NE)
extended his cross country season by finishing 11th overall at the
region meet with a personal record performance of 25:41. Kaup was the
sixth individual qualifier after nationally bound Concordia and Black
Hills State were taken out of the results. Senior Dru McMillan (4th
Yr, Gillette, WY) just missed qualifying for the national meet,
placing 32nd overall with a season-best time of 19:41. After all
nationally bound teams were omitted, McMillan finished 11th
individually.
Season Bests not enough: The women’s team all improved their
times from the conference meet, but found themselves too far in the back
of the pack to make a difference in the final standings. Freshman Amy
Jackman (1st Yr, Seward, NE) took 30 seconds off her personal best
with a 21:03, good for 81st place. Sophomore Tabbi Kabala (2nd Yr,
Davenport, IA), who has been hampered by a hip injury, responded to
the task, placing 97th with a season best 21:31. Senior Lindsey
Bliemeister (4th Yr, West Point, NE) moved well through the second
half of the race, finishing 101st with a 21:34. Jen Anderson (2nd Yr,
Lincoln, NE) came in soon after Bliemeister, finishing in 21:40,
good for 105th place. Freshman Alyssa Mueller (1st Yr, Seward, NE)
ran a personal best 21:47 for 111th place. Freshman Christine Galata
(1st Yr, Omaha/Marian) ran over a minute personal best, running to a
126th place with a 22:41, her fourth consecutive personal record. Senior
Krystal Cary (4th Yr, Underwood, IA) broke 23 minutes for the
first time in her career, finishing in 130th with a 22:53. Freshman
Tina Castle (1st YR, Farragut, IA) ran a near minute personal best
time with a 23:57, good for 137th place.
All-time bests recorded: Dana’s men’s team all set personal
records at the regional meet, a good sign for next fall. Sophomore
Eric Bane (2nd Yr, Oakland, IA) dramatically improved his place from
his conference performance, placing 34th with a personal record of
26:50. Junior Greg Rickenbacher (3rd Yr, Tacoma, WA) continued
his streak of personal records, finishing in 29:22, good for 111th
place.
Weekly Quote from the coach: “It was great to see so many
personal and season best performances today. Kaup looked really
impressive and has a great grasp of the program. He’s national bound for
a reason. To say our women’s team is disappointed is an understatement.
This was not how we wanted to end the season. I hope we all look at
these results this June when we begin our summer training.”
NAIA National Meet: Louisville, Kentucky will host the NAIA
National Cross Country Meet on Nov. 19. Kaup will run as an individual
runner after qualifying this past Saturday at the regional meet.
For more information, contact:
Leslie Rasmussen, sports information director, (402) 426-7298, lrasmuss@dana.edu
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or —
Shad Beam, assistant sports information director, (402) 426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu
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