The Lawrence women’s cross country team won the Midwest Conference Championships last Saturday at Grinnell College in Iowa. The women’s team has now won its last five meets in a row.While this does not affect playoff standings, it gives the Vikings plenty of momentum going into the regionals on Nov. 10. The top four teams from the regionals, which are held at Augustana College, move on to national level competition. “We have high goals for the regionals,” says captain Sally Shonfeld. “We definitely have a shot at qualifying, but it will take a gutsy race from all seven runners.”
Three Vikings were among the top ten for the MCC race: Courtney Miller, Valerie Curtis, and Shonfeld. The Vikings’ average time of 19:11 (for a 5K race) was 11 seconds faster than the average time for their nearest competitor, Carroll College. Shonfeld says about Lawrence’s performance, “We all had strong performances and fast times. It was exciting to win the conference championship with such a young team. We trained hard and are proud of what we have achieved.”
Hopefully, the cross country team can make it an even greater year for the Viking women, after the women’s soccer team qualified for nationals.
Although the men’s team did not fare as well as the women’s—the men placed ninth out of nine—regionals provides for a fresh start and a clean slate.
Viking men’s captain Eric Davis had the top Lawrence finish Saturday, coming in eighteenth out of 101. Davis completed the 8k race in 27:47.
Paul Shonfeld finished second of the Viking men. Paul is a freshman, and his sister Sally is a senior. Geneticists—and race fans—take note: it looks like success “runs” in the family.