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Rutledge:
Team deserves conference championship Staff Writer
The
men's cross country team finished first on Oct. 26 at the MIAA cross
country championship at Missouri Southern. The
team added its third consecutive plaque to the wall, not mentioning the
others already hanging. Upholding the conference title for three years
may seem difficult to do, but Tom Rutledge, head coach, is not surprised
with the team's finish. "I
am very proud of them," he said. "They have worked hard and
deserve the conference title." The
team earned 45 points, beating Truman State by a mere two points. The
overall average time was 25:19 for its 8-kilometer race. Bryan Lyons led
the pack with a first place finish time of 24:38, making him the 2002
MIAA All-Conference champion. Two
other runners from Southern, Petri Kykyri and Magnus Holmstrom, received
All-Conference honors, with Kykyri finishing with a fourth place time of
24:58 and Holmstrom finishing ninth place with a time of 25:26. Other
significant finishers include Paul Koehler, 25:47; Craig Rhoads, 25:44;
Michael Sutter, 26:26; Lucas Plocher, 27:09; Larry Boswell, 27:19;
Thomas Quade, 27:58; and Michael Dorsey, 28:04. The
team faced some opposition by losing its No. 4 runner during the race.
Boswell struggled with an injury, setting him and the rest of the team
back further than normal. The team had enough depth to recover quickly
and finish a strong race. "It s
nice to know that when you lose the number four man, you have other
runners to pick up the slack," Rutledge said. Runners
Paul Koehler and Craig Rhoads closed the gap for the Lions, causing
Truman State to trail the Lions. Although Truman was close, it was not
close enough to the men's team. It
was a team effort, said Lucas Plocher, freshman biology major. We
had two people step up, Paul and Craig, to help us win the
conference. The
team had two weeks to prepare for the meet, helping it to do well. The team is focusing on the regional meet to be held on Nov. 9 at CMSU. The Lions will send its top seven runners to the meet, hoping to place in the top four, and advancing them to the national cross country finals on Nov. 23 in Ohio. |
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Special to The Chart The Missouri Southern's men's cross country team took home a third straight conference championship Oct. 25. The Lions will send their top seven runners to the Nov. 9 meet, hoping to place in the top four, and advancing them to the national cross country finals on Nov. 23 in Ohio. |