Panther Runners Head To Great Lakes Championships

Cross country looks to build toward track season

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Nov. 14, 2002

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's cross country teams will head to West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday to compete at the Great Lakes Region IV Championships. The Panthers will be looking to improve on last season's showings at the regional meet, where the women finished 28th out of 31 and the men placed 19th out of the 31 competing schools.

Last Time Out
The men's cross country team finished fourth in the Horizon League Championships on Nov. 2 in Chicago. Steve Saul earned All-League honors with his 14th-place finish at the league meet. Josh Nygren also had an excellent showing, finishing 18th at the league meet. The women's team finished sixth out of the nine teams at the league meet, led by Katie Anderson's 20th-place finish.

Last Year's Championships
Cornelius Hill was the top finisher for the Panthers a year ago, finishing 42nd overall, while Pat Harrington finished 76th as the next-highest finisher. The highest returning finisher from a year ago is Steve Saul, who placed 134th. The women's team was led by Abby Hurst, who finished 69th place.

History Lesson
Both the men's and women's teams have experienced some success at the regional level, as each team has a pair of top-15 finishes in the school's history. The men's team placed 11th overall in 1997, led by Nate Kohnle's 46th-place finish, which is the fifth-best regional showing in school history. The women's team's top finish is a 13th-place showing in 1998 at Terre Haute, Ind., led by a 39th-place finish by Ann Lewis, the third-best individual finish in school history. Chad Zehms and Angie Molter each hold the top two individual performances, with Zehms finishing 17th in 1995 and 18th in 1994. Molter's top two marks came as a 25th-place finish in 1994 and a 39th-place showing in 1993.

Leading the Way
Senior Abby Hurst and sophomore Steve Saul were expected to pace the Panthers in 2002, and, for the most part, they both have lived up to those expectations. Saul led the men's team to a sixth-place finish at Notre Dame on Oct. 4, finishing 10th overall. Hurst regained her place at the top of the women's team at Indiana State, finishing 49th overall, after finishing third on the team at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago. Saul is now a perfect 4-for-4 on leading the men's team in 2002, following his 11th-place finish at Bradley and an 18th-place mark at the Central Collegiate Championships on Sept. 27. Saul continued his leading ways at the league championship, earning all-league honors with a 14th-place finish. Neither Saul nor Hurst competed at the Bronco Open on Oct. 11, with both runners resting for the Pre-National meet.

Running Short
The men's team ran a short 4K course on Oct. 11 at the Bronco Open, the first time in recent history the Panthers have run shorter than 8K in a meet. The 4K concept is one that is being used by various schools around the country in an effort to include more runners in the sport of cross country. Andy Kivioja was the top finisher for the Panthers, finishing in 12:57.

Twice as Nice
Both Hurst and Saul were honored by the Horizon League for their performances at the Bradley Invitational. Each received Horizon League Athlete of the Week honors for the week ending Sept. 15 after leading their respective teams to a fourth-place finish. For Hurst, it is the second time in her career that she has received the league award, having won it to open the season a year ago, while Saul was the first men's runner to win the award since Aaron Nodolf received the honor on Oct. 3, 2000.

Youth Movement
The men's team that finished sixth at Notre Dame on Oct. 4 was composed of three sophomores and two freshmen, perhaps the youngest team in the meet. The young group also managed to improve on last year's finish of seventh, even with last year's team including two of the school's more decorated distance runners in recent history, Cornelius Hill and Pat Harrington.

Fast Freshmen
Both the men's and the women's teams continue to lean heavily on freshmen during the early part of the cross country season. Josh Nygren was again the second men's finisher at Notre Dame, finishing 21st overall. He was followed once again by Nate Weiland, who was back in the top three after finishing fourth at the Central Collgiate Championships. For the women, Katie Anderson picked up a team second-place finish, finishing 52nd overall, while Michelle Blomquist finished as the fourth Panther runner, coming in 81st-place. All four of the freshmen (Nygren, Weiland, Anderson and Blomquist) placed in the top 75 at last year's Wisconsin state cross country championships.

The Streak Ends
Abby Hurst had a streak of eight-straight races leading the Panther women snapped at the Notre Dame Invitational Oct. 4. Hurst struggled with the elements and finished as the third runner on the team, coming in 67th place. Before her disappointing finish Oct. 19, Hurst was the top runner in each of the six races a year ago, claiming three top-10 finishes, and led the Panthers in both of the first two events in 2002. She collected her first top-10 showing of the year, and fourth of her career, on Sept. 27 at the Central Collegiate Championships, finishing ninth.

Up Next
This weekend's championships are likely the final competition for the cross country season for the Panthers. Should any individuals qualify for the NCAA Championships, they will be held Nov. 25 in Terre Haute, Ind.