November
18, 2006
WEST
CHESTER, OHIO . . . Four Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (IIAC) cross country runners earned All-American
honors (top-35 finishers) at the 2006 NCAA National cross country
Championship hosted by Wilmington (Ohio) College at the Voice
of America Park in West Chester on Saturday. All three IIAC
schools that qualified as full teams finished in the top-25
including two in the top-11.
Loras
College junior Ben Grant, the Conference individual
champion, finished 20th in the 8,000-meter, 279-runner men’s
race in 27:24 becoming the first Duhawk runner since 2003 to
earn All-America honors (when both Marcus Murphy and Dan Winder
took home the honor). Luther College senior Matt Busche
crossed the finish line one second behind Grant and
finished 21st, and Norse teammate Adam Bohach finished
30th in a time of 27:35. Busche and Bohach are the first Luther
men’s cross country All-Americans since Mark Sundet in
1996 and are the first Norse teammates to earn All-American
honors in the same year since Brent McGrew and Sundet in 1995.
Widener College senior Macharia Yuot won the men’s individual
Championship finishing in 26:31.
Grant
and Central College senior Adam Wolf qualified
for the Championship as individuals. Wolf, the first Central
runner to qualify for nationals since Andy Goodman in 1994,
finished 207th in a time of 29:40.
In the team
race, Luther finished sixth with 243 points and Wartburg College
finished 23rd with 531 points in the 32-team field. Calvin College
won its third straight Championship with 37 points. Luther was
making its 15th Division III national appearance, 24th overall
and its sixth-place finish is its highest since placing fifth
in 1987. Wartburg was making their eighth straight national
appearance.
In
addition to Busche and Bohach, Luther’s runners included
sophomore David McKay (37th, 27:47), junior
Aaron Zutz (112th, 28:38), senior Eric
Ellingson (123rd, 28:45), junior Carson Bruns
(146th, 28:56) and senior Brett Wilson
(156th, 29:04).
Wartburg’s
runners included junior Lucas Tjosvold (70th,
28:12), senior Patrick Johnson (129th, 28:48),
sophomore Brian Chenoweth (144th, 28:55), junior
Andy Hodge (159th, 29:05), junior Brian
Mullenbach (198th, 29:32), senior Kevin Balster
(219th, 29:50) and sophomore Tony Fischels
(226th, 29:55).
On
the women’s side, Luther sophomore Janet Dobyns
was the Conference’s lone All-American. The 2006
Conference individual Champion finished 23rd in the 6,000-meter,
279-runner race in 23:38. She is the first Luther women’s
All-American since Emily Lynch finished 35th in 2004. Willamette
College’s Sarah Zerzan was the women’s individual
Champion finishing in 22:31.
Central
College freshman Angie Berry and Wartburg senior
Jill Wagaman qualified for the Championship
as individuals. Berry was the first of 35 freshman to cross
the finish line, finishing in 37th-place in a time of 23:59,
just missing All-American placing by five seconds. Wagaman finished
in 25:05 for a 117th-place finish, her top national performance
in four appearances.
As a team,
Luther finished 11th of 32 teams with 333 points, 38 points
outside of the top-10. It is the Norse’s eight national
appearance and fifth top-11 finish. Middlebury College won the
Championship with 144 points.
In
addition to Dobyns, the Norse runners included sophomore Elise
Bennett (40th, 24:00), sophomore Rachel Wobeter
(100th, 24:55), sophomore Devin Parker (109th,
25:01), senior Cathy Betterman (173rd, 25:42),
senior Joanna Clagnaz (217th, 26:13) and junior
Lisa Savre (241st, 26:31).
Complete
Championship results can be found here.
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