For Immediate Release
Monday, November 11, 2013
NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release
Region Results
Minnesota Duluth Wins NCAA Central Region Championship
U-Mary’s Agnew Individual Champion
The University of Minnesota Duluth women’s cross country team won the 2013 NCAA Central Region Championship as they had three runners finish in the top 11 to win the event by 38 points.
UMD claimed its inaugural regional title Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls, S.D., by placing five runners among the top 26 finishers. That gave the Bulldogs a team score of 72 points -- a 38-point margin of victory over runnerup Southwest Baptist University and a 44-point cushion over defending champion and host Augustana College in the 30-school event. UMD captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crown two weeks ago at this same course.
University of Mary’s Jennifer Agnew repeated her championship run from two weeks ago as she was the individual champion, running away from the field again to win by nearly 20 seconds. She will be joined by Pittsburg State’s Jessica Macy (3rd) and Missouri Southern’s Dorn Eastin (5th) as the three individuals that will advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
Southwest Baptist finished second followed by Augustana and Winona State. All four teams will advance to the NCAA DII National Cross Country Championships, which will be held at Plants Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane, Wash. on November 23, 2013.
NSIC Team Notes
Augustana
Augustana women weren’t able to repeat as Central Region champions, but still qualified as a team for the eighth consecutive time. Kristin Brondbo led the Vikings with another runner-up finish, her second in as many races, with a time of 20:45.12 for the highest region finish of her career. In her first season with the Vikings, Meritxell Delgado earned All-Central Region honors by placing 20th, the second finisher for the Vikings. Augustana placed all five scoring runners in the top 36 ensuring another trip to the national meet which is held in Spokane, Wash. on Nov. 23.
Bemidji State
The Bemidji State women’s cross country team concluded the 2013 season Saturday at the NCAA Central Region Championships. The Beavers finished 30th in the 6,000-meter race held at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. BSU finished last in the 30-team event with a team score of 845 and an average time of twenty-five minutes and thirty-one seconds. The Beavers’ total time was 2:07:35.46. Sophomore Mikayla Connell (Bemidji, Minn.) shaved off nearly a minute of her time from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships – a 6,000-metetr race held at Yankton Trail Park Oct. 26 – and turned in a time of 24:46.89 to lead the team and finish 153rd. Sophomore Emily Turner (Bringham Lake, Minn.) posted a time of 24:52.70 to finish 159th. The Beavers had zero seniors and just one junior on the squad this season.
Concordia-St. Paul
Concordia-St. Paul finished in 24th place, the best women’s team finish for the program at the regional meet since 2008 (20th). The team stepped up a notch against Northern Sun competition as the 11th finishing team after a 12th place finish at the NSIC Championships two weeks ago.
University of Mary
Two weeks after claiming the Northern Sun championship on this same course, Jennifer Agnew (Sr., Onamia, MN) dominated the NCAA Central region meet, winning the event by over 18 seconds. The All-American becomes the first U-Mary athlete to win the regional crown. Agnew ran the 6K Yankton Trail Park course in a time of 20:26.57 to easily outdistance Kristin Brondbo of Augustana, who posted a time of 20:45.12. Despite missing last season to injury, Agnew will make her fourth trip to the NCAA championships. In addition to Agnew, two other Marauders earned NCAA All-Region honors. Erin Leier placed 19th in a time of 21:57.83 and Katelyn Engh cruised into 25th at 22:02.62. U-Mary placed fifth in the team standings and fell just one place short of advancing to the NCAA national meet, snapping a four-year streak.
Minnesota Duluth
For the fourth time since 2008 -- and fifth time ever -- the University of Minnesota Duluth will be paying a visit to the NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country Championships. UMD claimed its inaugural regional title Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls, S.D., by placing five runners among the top 26 finishers. That gave the Bulldogs a team score of 72 points -- a 38-point margin of victory over runnerup Southwest Baptist University and a 44-point cushion over defending champion and host Augustana College in the 30-school event. UMD, which captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crown two weeks ago at this same course (Yankton Trail Park), will now advance to the NCAA II Championships set for Nov. 23, joining the 2011, 2009, 2008 and 1994 Bulldog teams as national qualifiers.
Freshman Samantha Rivard was the top UMD finisher, taking fourth place overall out of 203 individuals with a 6K time of 21:11.38. Sophomore Hannah Olson was next, placing seventh (21:33.48) and was followed by freshman Breanna Colbenson (11th; 21:45.68), junior Allie Rudin (24th; 22:02.62) and sophomore Hanna Jocelyn (26th; 22:03.07). Sophomore Erica Seidenkranz (48th; 22:38.89) and senior Jacque Thaemert (50th; 22:41.35) were the other two Bulldogs who competed in Sioux Falls. Rivard, Colbenson, Jocelyn, Seidenkranz and Thaemert all established 2013 personal bests on Saturday.
Minnesota State
Junior Samantha Soupir turned in a 35th-place finish as Minnesota State placed ninth out of 30 teams at the 2013 NCAA Division II Central Region meet in Sioux Falls, S.D., Saturday. Soupir turned in a time of 22.25.15 at the meet and her 35th-place finish improves upon her 46th-place finish in 2012.
MSU Moorhead
Led by a strong showing from sophomore Molly Montonye, the MSUM women finished a solid eighth out of 30 teams at the Central Region Meet on Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. The eighth-place showed marked a vast improvement after the women finished 18th in 2012. The Dragons entered the meet ranked ninth, the first time they had MSUM finished at 262 points, 30 ahead of NSIC rival Minnesota State. Montonye had an outstanding finish, taking 13th with a time of 21:48.54. She was just two seconds away from 11th place. Montonye’s performance shows a huge improvement from a year ago when she finished 28th. Freshman Makenzie Smith was 44th with a time of 22:37.76 with junior teammate Savannah Link was 45th at 22:37.76. The region meet wrapped up the season for the Dragon women, who now turn their attention to distance running during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
Minot State
The Minot State women’s cross country continued to show improvement as they place No. 18 of 30 teams at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships Saturday. The women were once again led by Kara Kuntz (Jr., Voltaire, N.D.) who finished No. 59 with a time of 22:52. Teammates Samantha Huether (Fr., Minot, N.D.) and Allison Windish (Jr., Wimbledon, N.D.) were not far behind as they placed No. 79 and No. 82, respectively. The Beavers finished the race with a team score of 470 and an average time of 23:33. With Kuntz finishing in the top 30 percent of all Central Region athletes and a qualifying Grade Point Average, she is eligible to be an NCAA Division II Academic All-American.
Northern State
Top finisher for the women was freshman stand out Sasha Hovind with a time of 21:54.96 in 16th place. As a team the women took 15th place in the meet with seven runners competing.
Sioux Falls
This past weekend the USF women’s cross country team competed in the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Cougar women came away with a 13th place finish scoring 357 points. USF was led by Sierra Harder (Sr., Mountain Lake, Minn./Mountain Lake HS) who came away from the meet with a 10th place finish overall. Harder was two spots away from qualifying for the National Championships as an individual.
Southwest Minnesota State
The Southwest Minnesota State women’s cross country team finished the 2013 season with a 29th place finish at the NCAA Central Regional meet in Sioux Falls Saturday. Freshman Amanda Grengs crossed the finish line first for SMSU with a time of 24:00 to record a 122nd place finish.
St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State University freshman Samantha Sunstrom, a graduate of nearby Sauk Rapids-Rice H.S., led the Huskies at the 2013 NCAA Division II Central Regional championships with a 23rd place finish out of 203 runners. Sunstrom completed the 6K course at Yankton Trails park in Sioux Falls, S.D. with a time of 22:01.51. As a team, the Huskies placed 20th with 496 points. Of note, the race marked the end of the 2013 season for the Huskies. SCSU senior Kassie Vaness ran second for the Huskies at Sioux Falls with a 46th time of 22:38.15, while Jessie Hubley placed 131st at 24:16.10. SCSU’s other athletes at the meet included Lauren Johnson (149th/24:41.54),Jenny Metzler (154th/24:48.32), Lindsay Stassen (160th/ 24:53.31) and Kylie Baas (172nd/25:23.30). Eric Hanenberger completed his second season as the head coach at SCSU in 2013.
Upper Iowa
Upper Iowa made the most of their first appearance at the NCAA Division II Central Regional at the Yankton Trails in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Peacocks placed 25th among 30 teams in the event passing by three fellow NSIC members along the way. UIU scored 740 points to defeat Wayne State College (803), Southwest Minnesota State University (829) and Bemidji State University (845). The team nearly got by a fourth NSIC team, but Concordia University, St. Paul was one point better on the day to claim 24th. MeKenzie Coppage was just a second off her record-setting time from two weeks ago in the 6K placing 123rd with a time of 24:03.67. Chandra Smith improved by 10 seconds and finished 137th (24:29.35), while Emily Franks (24:38.61) dropped her time 50 seconds to place 144th. Paige Davis (24:57.50) made an impressive improvement from two weeks ago to place 158th after dropping her time by a minute and 16 seconds.
Wayne State
Wayne State closed out the 2013 season Saturday at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Freshman Cristina Murillo was the top Wildcat finisher individually while Wayne State finished 28th in the team standings with 803 points.
Winona State
The Winona State women’s cross country team punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive season, finishing fourth at the NCAA Central Region Championship on Saturday. Jessica Young, Jr., Winona, Minn. (Winona) led the Warriors with a sixth-place finish individually, posting a time of 21:27. Her mark is the fifth-best in school history. Jordan Skelly added a 15th-place showing in a time of 21:52, the sixth-best mark ever by a Warrior. Winona State made its first trip to the national meet as a team last season, placing ninth.
Past NSIC Women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week
9/10/13: Runa Falch - Augie
9/17/13: Jennifer Agnew - U-Mary
9/24/13: Breanna Colbenson - UMD
10/1/13: Runa Falch - Augie (2)
10/8/13: Runa Falch - Augie (3)
10/15/13: Jennifer Agnew - U-Mary (2)