Midwest Conference

2007|Midwest Conference




Week 1: September 4, 2007
Men
	Jim Hein - Ripon College - Senior Ripon, Wis./Ripon Hein’s second-place individual finish at Saturday’s St. Norbert Tom Barry Invitational helped the Red Hawks tie the host Green Knights for first-place in the team standings. The senior ran a time of 21:02.00 on the four-mile course, which placed him eight seconds behind the individual champion.
Women
	Erin Kelley - Carroll College - Senior Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine Kelley began her quest for a fourth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance with an impressive performance at the St. Norbert Tom Barry Invitational. The senior bested her closest competitor by nearly 40 seconds en route to winning individual honors with a 5K time of 19:19.00. Kelley’s effort helped the Lady Pioneers take third as a team in the event.

Week 2: September 11, 2007
Men
	Clay Staley - Monmouth College - Sophomore Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs Staley placed seventh overall at Friday’s Bradley University Open at Detweiller Park. The sophomore posted a time of 26:03, which was 10 seconds off his best-ever performance, to finish fifth among NCAA Division III competitors on the 8K course. Staley’s time was the best in the MWC thus far this season.
Women
	Mary Kate Beyer - Monmouth College - Freshman East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria Beyer dropped her season-opening 5K time by nearly a minute en route to a fourth-place finish at Friday’s Bradley University Open. The freshman was the top finisher among NCAA Division III runners, posting a conference-best time of 19:07.

Week 3: September 18, 2007
Men
	Jeff Pentek - St. Norbert College - Senior Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan North Pentek recorded an impressive performance at Saturday’s Midwest Collegiate Invitational hosted by UW-Parkside. The senior finished fifth individually at the meet, posting an MWC-best time of 25:16 over the 8K course. Pentek was the top NCAA Division III finisher among the 263-man field and helped the Green Knights place 10th as a team. St. Norbert topped DI neighbor UW-Green Bay by two places.
Women
	Jenny Scherer - St. Norbert College - Sophomore Delavan, Wis./Delavan-Darien Scherer covered the 5K course at Saturday’s Midwest Collegiate Invitational hosted by UW-Parkside in 18:59. The time was the best in the MWC this season, good for 23rd individually at the event and made the sophomore the top Division III finisher among the 255 runners. The Green Knights finished 13th as a team at the event, edging DI neighbor UW-Green Bay by one place.

Week 4: September 25, 2007
Co-Men
	Clay Staley - Monmouth College - Sophomore Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs Staley ran the sixth-fastest 8K time in school history Friday at Augustana’s Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. The sophomore’s time of 25:27 was good for second at the meet out of 409 runners and lifted Monmouth to a fourth-place finish out of 32 schools.
	Henry Reich - Grinnell College - Junior Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi Reich finished 14th in a field of 409 runners at Friday’s Augustana Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. The junior clocked in with a time of 26:22 on the 8K course, helping the Pioneers finish third as a team among the 32 squads competing. Reich’s effort moved him into the top 5 in the conference among the best 8K times.
Women
	Jessica Davey - Ripon College - Sophomore Berlin, Wis./Berlin Davey crossed the finish line tenth in a field of 85 runners at Saturday’s Concordia (WI) Invitational. The sophomore recorded a time of 24:38 at the 5K event, which ranked 12th among the top times in the conference thus far this season. With Davey leading the way, the Red Hawks finished fourth as a team.

Week 5: October 2, 2007
Men
	Jeff Pentek - St. Norbert College - Senior Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan North Pentek was the MWC’s top finisher at Saturday’s University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational, as the senior finished seventh in a field that featured 367 runners. Pentek’s time of 26:09.5 helped the Green Knights to a top 15 finish as a team. Pentek currently owns the MWC’s top 8K time this season.
Women
	Jenny Scherer - St. Norbert College - Sophomore Delavan, Wis./Delavan-Darien Scherer placed 30th individually in a field of 563 runners at the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday. The sophomore finished the 6K course with a time of 23:59.55 and now ranks third in the MWC in 6K times and second in 5K efforts, respectively. The Green Knight women topped two MWC squads in the race.

Week 6: October 9, 2007
Men
	Jim Hein - Ripon College - Senior Ripon, Wis./Ripon Hein is the MWC Performer of the Week for the second time this season after the senior won Saturday’s Ripon Invitational. Hein covered the 8K course in 26:53, besting his closest competitor by 24 seconds and helping the Red Hawks place second as a team. The event featured 60 individual runners and 10 teams.
Women
	Amanda Hammermeister - Beloit College - Senior Ketchikan, Alaska/Ketchikan Hammermeister was the first Buccaneer runner to cross the finish line at Saturday’s Beloit Olde English Classic. The senior finished second at the meet, covering the 5K course in 20:53.5. Hammermeister, who owns the fifth-best time in the MWC this season, led the Bucs to a first-place team finish in the eight-team field.

Week 7: October 16, 2007
Men
	Jon O’Brien - St. Norbert College - Sophomore Downers Grove, Ill./Montini Catholic O’Brien topped his previous season-best time by nearly a minute at Saturday’s UW-Oshkosh Invite, shooting him up second on the MWC’s top 8K efforts this season. O’Brien’s time of 25:18.13 was good for 38th place in the field of 358 runners and gives the Green Knights the top two individual times in the MWC entering the conference championship race.
Women
	Allison Louthan - Grinnell College - Senior Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis Louthan was the first runner to cross the finish line at Saturday’s Illinois College Invitational. The senior’s winning time of 18:28.83 on the 5K course was the second-best performance in the conference this season and helped the Pioneers take first-place as a team. Louthan edged teammate Sarah Spencer, the defending MWC champion, by less than a second to win the race.