Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
MVC Championships
Men capture second straight title, women fourth at MVC Championships
11/01/2008 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Nov. 1, 2008
By Megan Kramper
www.SiUSalukis.com
Springfield, Mo -Jeff Schirmer set a new course record as he helped lead the SIU men's cross country team to their second consecutive conference title while the women squad took home fourth place.
The men finished with 37 points just three points ahead of second place Indiana State while the women finished with 101 points to put them in fourth place.
Schirmer finished the 8K course with a time of 24:18.73 which is the best time ever at the MSU Cross Country facility.
Dan Dunbar came in fifth with a time of 24:34.88 while Jason Ordway (24:42.62) and Kyle Kirchner (24:45.04) finished eighth and ninth respectively to round out SIU's top ten finishers.
"The men came out and performed as expected...and I have to give a lot of credit to Indiana State who ran their best race of the year," Head coach Matt Sparks said.
Other finishers for the Salukis included Mark Bowman (14th 25:14.14), Brad Wrage (20th 25:47.57), Tyler Bradford (27th 26:09.68), and Neal Anderson (32nd 26:30.10).
Picked to finish third in the MVC Pre-Championship poll, the women took home the fourth place behind champion Wichita State, Missouri State, and Illinois State.
"We were hoping for a top three finish and missed out on that but we've come a long way since a year ago when we finished seventh," Sparks said. "We're going to have a lot of the same faces next year and contend for a top spot."
Megan Hoelscher was SIU's top finisher coming in 12th with a time of 18:25.51 with Emily Toennies (17th 18:39.31) and A'Seret Dokubo (18th 18:40.00) following closely behind.
Jamie Pfister finished 20th with a time of 18:43.24 and Ryan Eichelberger came in 34th place at 19:16.66.
Kim Bearwood (39th 19:35.05), Toni Whitfield (47th 19:43.84), and Kristian Baldwin (55th 20:22.88) rounded out the other finishers for SIU.
Next up on the schedule for the Salukis will be the NCAA Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla. on Nov. 15.
Players Mentioned
