October 29, 2005

Results

Young Huskies Team Has Learning Experience At MAC Championship

DeKalb, IL - The Northern Illinois University cross country team competed in the Mid-American Conference Championship today at the North Forty (Anderson Field) on NIU's campus. The young Huskies finished at the bottom of the conference with a score of 320. The top Huskie was Jessica Schauff, who came in 38th. The junior had a time of 18:55 on the 5000m course.

The rest of the NIU squad finished within 15 spots of each other. Freshman Nayomi Hourigan crossed the line in 64th place with a time of 19:37 while freshman Ashley Rittenbacher finished 68th in 19:43. To round out the Huskie scoring, freshman Lauren Brynda finished 73rd in 19:43 and senior Christina Nieto was right behind in 76th place and a 20:03. The other two finishers for the Huskies were freshmen Meghan Ginter and Maria Soloynko who crossed the line in 77th and 79th place, respectively.

With 5 of their competitors finishing in the top 20, University of Akron captured the team championship with a score of 41. The Zips' Beata Rudzinska captured first place after finishing in third place at the 2004 MAC championship. Finishing behind Akron were second place University of Toledo (64) and third place Ball State University (117). Ohio University (122) and Miami (OH) University (132) finished out the top five.

On the men's side, Eastern Michigan University put an end to Central Michigan's glory of the past four years. The Eagles finished all five of their scoring runners in the top 15, giving them a point total of 39. EMU's top runner, junior Corey Nowitzke finished second overall in a time of 24:25, just four seconds behind the winner, Miami's Dan Huling.

Miami's RedHawks finished second overall with 64 points despite Huling's victory and Chris Swisher's third place finish. Ohio (101), Kent State (120), and Central Michigan (132) rounded out the top five.

All-MAC awards were presented after the meets. The top 7 finishers are awarded First Team All-MAC honors while the runners finishing 8th through 14th earn Second Team All-MAC recognition. For the women, First Team All-MAC members include Beata Rudzinska (Akron), Dagmara Handzlik (Toledo), Ebba Stenbeck (Toledo), Carime Reinhart (Ohio), Morgan Sulzener (Akron), Brandi Schoeppner (Akron), and Molly Hammer (Kent State).

Second Team All-MAC for the women include Jamie Roflow (Bowling Green), Jennie Stoll (Miami-OH), Vanessa Gilbert (Ball State), Andriana Zalucka (Akron), Jill Odom (Western Michigan), Andrea Maas (Ohio), and Judit Kocsis (Toledo).

On the men's side, First Team All-MAC members include Dan Huling (Miami-OH), Corey Nowitzke (Eastern Michigan), Chris Swisher (Miami-OH), Matt Loiselle (Central Michigan), Neal Naughton (Eastern Michigan), Josh Karanja (Eastern Michigan), and Dan McKenna (Buffalo).

Second Team All-MAC members are Seth Hutchinson (Kent State), Jason Linton (Ohio), David Howard (Akron), Jeff Powers (Central Michigan), Kyle Mena (Eastern Michigan), Rogers Kipchumba (Bowling Green), and Alan Walker (Eastern Michigan).

Coaches of the Year were also honored at this time. Voted on by the MAC cross country head coaches, Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year is Akron's Scott Jones. Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year is Eastern Michigan's John Goodridge.

(For further information, please contact Emily Trigg) -NIU-