2008 Woodie Awards
Cross Country: Men finish fourth, women place second
Kyle Wiese
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Sports
The SIUE men's and women's cross country teams competed this week in the Bradley Invite at Bradley University, taking fourth and second place, respectively.
The men had the first person to cross the finish line out of 125 runners in senior Erik Steffens, with a finishing time of 25:46.
"I had never led a race before," Steffens said. "I was just jogging behind this guy at a pace that was slower than I expected, and all of a sudden I just took off."
Junior Steve Werths also turned in a personal best time of 26:43, which improved upon his best time by approximately a minute.
The Cougars were without one of their runners this week, junior Kyle Cameron, due to an illness he has been suffering through all week.
"Given the circumstances, we ran very well," wen's and women's Head Coach David Astraukas said. "Kyle Cameron did not get a chance to run because he was under the weather, and he is one of our best runners."
According to Astraukas, the team saw some improvement from Werths due to a more intense off season workout.
"I put in a lot of hard work over the summer, and I hit a lot of mileage that I have never hit before," Werths said.
The men's team finished in fourth place overall, with a total team score of 106. North Central College finished first overall with a team score of 27.
Steffens was able to get his first victory in a race because he was able to set the pace for the entire field of runners.
"I was proud of myself that we were going too slow and I personally sped up the pace," Steffens said.
For the women's team, sophomore Kayla Brown finished second overall out of 103 runners and was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Athlete of the Week because of her performance.
Brown finished with a time of 18:36, which was good enough to put her into a tie for the 17th best time in the history of SIUE.
"It's definitely an honor to be on that list, and now I know I'm up there with some of the best runners of the past," Brown said.
The Cougars also turned it an eighth place finish from freshman Maggie Krall, who finished in 20:06.
SIUE took second place overall at the event with an overall score of 64. Olivet Nazarene University took first place with a score of 45.
According to Astraukas, the women's team is also struggling with health issues that need to be corrected before the next meet.
"Hopefully we can get some of the girls back soon and place a little better at the next event," Astraukas said.
Both teams will compete Friday at the Eastern Illinois Panther Open in Charleston.
The goal for Coach Astraukas will be to have healthy teams going into the EIU Panther Open.
"We need to run the workouts hard this week and have healthier teams to produce some better scores," Astraukas said.
The men had the first person to cross the finish line out of 125 runners in senior Erik Steffens, with a finishing time of 25:46.
"I had never led a race before," Steffens said. "I was just jogging behind this guy at a pace that was slower than I expected, and all of a sudden I just took off."
Junior Steve Werths also turned in a personal best time of 26:43, which improved upon his best time by approximately a minute.
The Cougars were without one of their runners this week, junior Kyle Cameron, due to an illness he has been suffering through all week.
"Given the circumstances, we ran very well," wen's and women's Head Coach David Astraukas said. "Kyle Cameron did not get a chance to run because he was under the weather, and he is one of our best runners."
According to Astraukas, the team saw some improvement from Werths due to a more intense off season workout.
"I put in a lot of hard work over the summer, and I hit a lot of mileage that I have never hit before," Werths said.
The men's team finished in fourth place overall, with a total team score of 106. North Central College finished first overall with a team score of 27.
Steffens was able to get his first victory in a race because he was able to set the pace for the entire field of runners.
"I was proud of myself that we were going too slow and I personally sped up the pace," Steffens said.
For the women's team, sophomore Kayla Brown finished second overall out of 103 runners and was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Athlete of the Week because of her performance.
Brown finished with a time of 18:36, which was good enough to put her into a tie for the 17th best time in the history of SIUE.
"It's definitely an honor to be on that list, and now I know I'm up there with some of the best runners of the past," Brown said.
The Cougars also turned it an eighth place finish from freshman Maggie Krall, who finished in 20:06.
SIUE took second place overall at the event with an overall score of 64. Olivet Nazarene University took first place with a score of 45.
According to Astraukas, the women's team is also struggling with health issues that need to be corrected before the next meet.
"Hopefully we can get some of the girls back soon and place a little better at the next event," Astraukas said.
Both teams will compete Friday at the Eastern Illinois Panther Open in Charleston.
The goal for Coach Astraukas will be to have healthy teams going into the EIU Panther Open.
"We need to run the workouts hard this week and have healthier teams to produce some better scores," Astraukas said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Louise Getz
posted 9/13/07 @ 11:09 AM CST
Kyle Cameron did run the race, placing 47th.??? Brian Getz, Senior, did not run after having trained all summer.He has suffered a foot injury he has surgery scheduled for Sept. (Continued…)
Louise Getz
posted 9/13/07 @ 11:30 AM CST
Add'l comment:
Although Getz is not able to compete in this seasons cross country races, he has been elected the new SAC president
(Student Advisory Council) for 2007-2008 season!
We look forward to a strong performance in track after his recuperation from foot surgery. (Continued…)
Ricky
posted 9/14/07 @ 1:30 AM CST
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