[Results]

[Championship Page]

RIPON, Wis. - The Lawrence men and Grinnell women captured the 2011 Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon at Ceresco Prairie in Ripon, Wis. Lawrence’s Sam Stevens and Carroll’s Megan O’Grady earned the individual titles in their respective races.

On the women’s side Grinnell won its second champion in three years and the 17th overall. The Pioneers edged out Monmouth by only four points (50-54) for the title. St. Norbert was right on the doorstep of back-to-back championships but finished in third place with 60 points. Carroll sat comfortably in fourth place with 99 points followed by Lawrence (166 points) and Beloit (168 points). Ripon (169 poitns) and Lake Forest (224 points) finished in seventh and eighth, respectively while Knox and Illinois C. tied for ninth with 254 points.

O’Grady won her second championship in the last three years with a 6k time of 22:21.50 and finished over 20 seconds ahead of Mackensie Weber (21:41.67) of St. Norbert. Monmouth’s Rachel Bowden finished in third place with a time of 21:51.73 while a pair of Pioneer runners rounded out the top-five with Sarah Burnell (21:55.90) finishing fourth and Hannah Colter (22:02.58) checking in at fifth place.

The Lawrence men brought home its first title since 1985 with a strong showing in Ripon. The Vikings narrowly beat out Grinnell for the championship by only two points (51-53). Monmouth took a third place finish with 80 points and Carroll was right on the Fighting Scots tail with 89 points in fourth place. Knox took a fifth place finish with 142 points followed by St. Norbert (154 points) and host Ripon (181 points). Lake Forest (218 points), Beloit (260 points) and Illinois C. (269 points) rounded out the 10 team field.

After finishing third at the 2010 championships Stevens won the 2011 edition with an 8k time of 25:09.11 over Grinnell’s Ben Tyler (25:16.19). Tyler’s teammate, Erik Figge took a third place finish with a time of 25:24.91 with Ripon’s AJ Thew finishing in fourth (25:36.03). Lawrence closed out the top-five with another individual medalist as Curran Carlile clocked a time of 25:37.79.

Lawrence head coach Jason Fast was named the 2011 MWC Men’s Coach of the Year while Grinnell’s Evelyn Freeman was the recipient of the Women’s Coach of the Year honor. 
 

2011 Women's Coach of the Year Evelyn Freeman

2011 Women's individual champion Megan O'Grady

2011 Men's Coach of the Year Jason Fast

2011 Men's individual champion Sam Stevens