Five Midwest Conference cross country student-athletes from three league schools were selected as to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's (USTFCCCA) National All-Academic Team.

Grinnell led the MWC with three women’s selections, as senior Allison Louthan, junior Becky Bessinger and senior Sarah Spencer were honored. Ripon sophomore Jessica Davey rounded out the women’s selections. Monmouth sophomore Clay Staley was the conference’s lone representative on the men’s All-Academic squad.

All-Academic Teams - Men - Women

Days after earning All-American honors at the 2007 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships, Grinnell seniors Sarah Spencer (right) and Allison Louthan (left) were honored on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-American Team ( USTFCCCA).

The NCAA and USTFCCCA honor competitors who finish in the top 35 in the country at the NCAA National meet as All-Americans. Spencer finished sixth and Louthan 32nd at the 2007 National Meet, which was held at St. Olaf’s home course in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday, November 17.

Grinnell senior women’s runners Sarah Spencer (right) and Allison Louthan both earned All-American honors at the 2007 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships, which were hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday (November 17). Spencer finished sixth in the race, earning back-to-back All-American honors after finishing third at the 2006 National meet. Louthan followed in 32nd, while Carroll senior Erin Kelley and St. Norbert sophomore Jenny Scherer placed 44th and 61st, respectively. Spencer is the second two-time All-American in conference history, following Kristin Igielski, who achieved the feat in 2002 and 2003.

St. Norbert’s Jeff Pentek was the lone MWC representative in the men’s race, as the senior finished 61st.

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its 2007 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s All-Region Cross Country Teams for the eight national regions. All Midwest Conference schools participate in the NCAA’s Midwest Region, with the exception of Grinnell, whose location places it in the Central Region.

Ten total MWC student-athletes were named to the All-Region teams, with Grinnell leading all MWC schools with five Central Region selections. Junior Becky Bessinger, senior Allison Louthan and senior Sarah Spencer (right) represented the Pioneer women, while senior Charles Knuth and sophomore David Montgomery were selected to the men’s team.

Monmouth and St. Norbert each had a men’s and women’s selection on the Midwest Region team, as Monmouth freshman Mary Kate Beyer and sophomore Clay Staley joined St. Norbert sophomore Jenny Scherer and senior Jeff Pentek.

Carroll senior Erin Kelley (left) was the final MWC honoree. She receives the accolade days after becoming the first women’s runner in conference history to qualify for the National Championship meet four times in her career.

All-Region Teams - Men - Women

All ten Midwest Conference cross country squads were in action on Saturday, November 10 at a pair of NCAA Regional races. Each MWC school with the exception of Grinnell ran at the Midwest Regional at UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Grinnell’s men and women ran in the Central Regional at St. Olaf’s home course in Northfield, Minnesota, which is also the site of the 2007 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships on Saturday, November 17.

No league teams qualified for the National meet, as Grinnell’s women were unable to repeat as Central Region champs, but five MWC student-athletes qualified to run individually on the final weekend of the year.

2007 MWC men’s champion Jeff Pentek, a senior from St. Norbert, was the lone men’s qualifier, while Grinnell senior Sarah Spencer followed her MWC individual championship by also qualifying. Spencer will be joined at Nationals by teammate Allison Louthan, St. Norbert’s Jenny Scherer and Carroll’s Erin Kelley.

Kelley is the first women’s runner in league history to qualify for the National Championship race in each of her four seasons on campus.

The 2007 NCAA Division III Cross Country Regionals are set to unfold on Saturday, November 10 as athletes and teams look to qualify for the 2007 NCAA Division III National Championships.

Grinnell will be heading to the Central Regional in Northfield, Minnesota, which is hosted by St. Olaf. All other league teams will be participating in the Midwest Regional at UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wis.

Grinnell’s women won the Central Regional last season en route to finishing seventh in the country, while the Pioneers Sarah Spencer finished third in the nation individually last year as a junior. Two MWC men qualified for nationals in 2006, while nine women represented the conference.

Qualifiers from the Central Regional will be familiar with the championship course, as the 2007 National Championships on Saturday, November 17 will also be hosted by St. Olaf.

The Grinnell men and women extended their Midwest Conference Cross Country Championship streaks at Nichols Park in Jacksonville, Ill., on Saturday, November 27.

The Pioneer men won their league-best 11th consecutive title, including a tie with Monmouth in 2006, to best their string of ten straight from 1986-1995. The championship also marked the program’s 24th overall, which is now an MWC-record, as Grinnell surpassed former MWC member Carleton’s after sharing the mark of 23.

The Grinnell women took home the league title trophy for the fourth consecutive season, adding to their MWC-best overall title total of 15.

Grinnell senior Sarah Spencer (right) held off teammate Allison Louthan to repeat as the MWC women’s champion (17:59.02) and make history. Spencer became the fifth women’s student-athlete in conference history to win two individual crowns in her career. Carroll senior Erin Kelley, who closed her conference career by finishing third on Saturday, is included in that field after winning the event in 2004 and 2005. Spencer is the eighth individual champion in Grinnell history.

The day belonged to St. Norbert senior Jeff Pentek (left) on the men’s side, as Pentek (25:17.37) finished 26 seconds ahead of Monmouth’s Clay Staley to win the individual crown. Pentek is the first St. Norbert men’s runner to win an MWC cross country title since Green Knights joined the MWC in 1982.

St. Norbert first-year head coach Don Augustine was named the MWC Men’s Coach of the Year, while Carroll’s Shawn Thielitz received the Women’s Coach of the Year honor.

One year ago, Grinnell and Monmouth’s men’s cross country teams tied for the league title, marking just the second time in league history and the first time since 1974 that two squads have both taken home championship trophies from the conference meet. A tie was not in the cards on the women’s side in 2006, as Grinnell won its third consecutive MWC championship en route to winning the NCAA Central Regional and finishing seventh in the nation at the 2006 NCAA National Championships.

Grinnell’s women upped their MWC-best title total to 14 last year, while the Pioneer men can make history in 2007 after tying former MWC member Carleton with the 23rd championship in school history in 2006. Carroll’s Erin Kelley (right) has the chance to add a new line in the MWC record book, as the two-time MWC champion can become the first women’s runner in league history to win three individual titles.

The 2007 version of the Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships will unfold at Nichols Park in Jacksonville, Ill., as Illinois College hosts the event on Saturday, October 27. The women’s 5K race will begin at 11 a.m., with the men’s 8K race set to follow at noon.

Click here for 2007 MWC Championship Preview

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s first NCAA Division III regular-season cross country polls of the season feature the Grinnell men and women among the nation’s best.

The Grinnell women, who won the Central Regional en route to a seventh-place national finish a year ago, came in ranked fifth in the country. Grinnell’s men were the final team listed in the 35-team rankings.

The Pioneer women were ranked first in the Central Region of the USTFCCCA’s preseason regional polls, while the Grinnell men were ranked sixth in the Central Region.

Click here for USTFCCCA Rankings

St. Norbert College athletics director Tim Bald has announced the hiring of Don Augustine as head men’s and women’s track & field coach. Augustine arrives in De Pere after being the head men’s and women’s track & field coach for four years at Westminster College, an NCAA Division III school located in New Wilmington, Pa.

During Augustine’s tenure at Westminster, the Titans qualified their first two athletes to the NCAA Division III national track & field meet. A 2001 Westminster graduate, Augustine was a standout middle-distance runner on the track as well as a two-year starter at linebacker on the football team. Augustine earned his master’s degree from Temple University and was a graduate assistant in football for the Owls during the 2002-2003 school year.

Click here for complete release

Patrick Irwin (right) and Dan Zierfuss were named co-head track & field coaches at Knox on June 18. Irwin was also named the head cross country coach, while Zierfuss will assist the Prairie Fire football team.

Irwin is familiar with Knox after serving as an assistant coach with the Prairie Fire cross country and track & field teams last season. He also was the assistant girl’s track coach at Solon ( Iowa) High School in the spring of 2006. A four-year letter winner at Cornell College ( Iowa) in cross country and track & field, Irwin will primarily work with the distance runners. The Monmouth, Illinois, native earned a degree in Secondary Education and Physical Education from Cornell in 2006.

Click here for complete release

Joe Dunham has resigned his men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coaching positions at St. Norbert to pursue another career opportunity outside athletics.

Dunham has spent the last four years at St. Norbert as the head men’s and women’s track and field coach as well as the men’s cross country coach. He was also slated to begin his first year as the women’s cross country coach this fall.

During Dunham’s tenure, 41 indoor and outdoor school records were broken. St. Norbert track athletes earned 137 All-Midwest Conference honors, placing third or higher at MWC championships. Seven were named All-MWC in cross country, placing in the top 20 at the conference meet. St. Norbert finished second once and third twice in men’s cross country in the Midwest Conference under Dunham, and also finished second in MWC men’s indoor and outdoor track on two different occasions.

Click here for complete release

St. Norbert women’s cross country Nancy Gritt has resigned after eight seasons guiding the program, athletics director Tim Bald announced. Bald has named current men’s cross country and men’s and women’s track and field coach Joe Dunham as the new women’s cross country coach.

Gritt led St. Norbert to Midwest Conference championships in 2002 and 2003. She also guided Julie Deyo to the NCAA Division III national meet in 2001 and 2002, with Deyo being the first St. Norbert harrier, male or female, to ever qualify for the event.

Gritt, a 1992 graduate of St. Norbert, was a four-year letterwinner for the Green Knights in both cross country and track and field. She captured two Midwest Conference indoor 800-meter championships during her athletic career.

Click here for complete release