Cross-country: post-season wrap-up

The Lawrence University men’s
and women’s cross-country teams
finished their seasons a few weeks
ago at the Midwest Conference
Championships at Beloit College.
The men had strong showings
from their young runners all year
long, especially from freshman Sam
Stevens, whose best finish was fifth
at the St. Norbert College Invitational
Sept. 5. He ended up leading Vikings
at the tournament, finishing 18th
with a time of 28:18.77 in an 8-kilometer
run.
Also performing well this season
was senior Mark Sprtel, who led the
team at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational
with a time of 26:45.
As a team, the men took sixth
at the conference championships,
which was not good enough to qualify
for the postseason.
The team graduates two seniors
this year: Sprtel and Dan Meinhardt.
Next year the team will be led by a
strong core of returning runners,
with Stevens returning after earning
all-conference honors as a freshman.
The women’s team featured
sophomore Emily Muhs, who led
the team at most of the meets in
which she competed. She also took
home all-conference honors at the
Midwest Conference Championships,
finishing in 12th place with a time of
25:20.83.
Also adding to the team’s success
were freshmen Guerin Platte
and Renee Kargleder, who led the
team in Muhs’ absence at the Roy
Griak Invitational at University of
Minnesota Sept. 26 and at the Ripon
College Invitational Oct. 10.
At the conference championships,
the team took home seventh
place with Muhs and Platte in the
lead.
The women’s team graduates
only one senior, Sarah Bruemmer,
this year, so the team expects to
improve on this year’s performance
next year.