PEORIA, Ill. - Over 200 Missouri Valley Conference competitors will gather at Newman Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 31 to run the 2009 State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship. Saturday will mark the fourth time for Bradley and Newman Golf Course as host for this event.
This year's men's field is loaded with talent. All top-nine finishers from a year ago are back to run the 8K race, including 2008 champion Jeff Schirmer of Southern Illinois. Schirmer and senior teammate Mohamed Mohamed have won the last three MVC individual championships and own the top two times on this year's MVC 8K season-best list. The Salukis, picked first in the MVC pre-championship coaches' poll, are the reigning men's team champion and will look for the third-straight title Saturday. Other top performers in the men's race include Scott Krapf and Matt Mroczynski from Illinois State, Craig Padgett and Scott Keeney of Indiana State and Northern Iowa's Thibault Vandenabeele.
A pair of juniors will set the pace for Bradley during Saturday's championship. Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) has three top-15 finishes this season and was named the MVC athlete of the week after finishing 15th at the SIU Edwardsville Border Wars Oct. 10. Teammate Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Danville Area C.C./Heyworth H.S.) owns four top-20. Bowling and Wieser are one and two on the Braves' 8K season-best list. Bradley was picked seventh in the pre-championship poll.
The women's 5K race features four top-10 finishers from 2008. Wichita State has won four consecutive team championships and is favored to win the 2009 race according to the MVC pre-championship coaches' poll. Between Wichita State and Missouri State, the Shockers and the Bears have won nine of the last 10 team titles. Top performers in this year's field include Tonya Nero and Leah Thompson of Wichita State, Jess Husted and Kirsten Lang from Illinois State and Missouri State's Terry Phillips.
For Bradley, a trio of Braves will push the pack Saturday. Redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) has two first-place finishes this season and has been named MVC athlete of the week three times. Benson also owns the second-best 5K time in the conference this season. Fifth-year senior Katie Nowak (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake H.S.) earned her first career win and set a personal best time at the 2009 Bradley Open. She has been named MVC athlete of the week and Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week. Junior Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North H.S.) boasts three top-10 finishes in 2009. The Braves, picked third in the pre-championship poll, have been ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region for four consecutive weeks.
The 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship opens with the men's 8K race at 10:30 a.m., followed by the women's 5K at 11:30 a.m.
