2016 MIAC Championship Meet Preview
MIAC men's cross country preview courtesy of Matt Higgins and the MIAC office
Click here for the complete MIAC men's cross country preview
ST. PAUL, Minn. --- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) will crown its 2016 men's cross country champion Saturday at noon at Como Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. St. Olaf College enters the meet on a "drive for five" while the rest of the conference hopes to finally run the Oles half-decade at the top.
St. Olaf has built a dynasty, not only in the MIAC but also in all of Division III, over the past four years. Head Coach Phil Lundin's squad has won four-straight MIAC titles and look to make it five in a row in 2016. Hamline won three in a row before that, and since 2007 only the Oles (five) and Pipers (three) have hoisted the MIAC championship trophy.
After the Oles (34 points), the men's championship was highly competitive a year ago, with Saint John's (96) edging Carleton (99) and St. Thomas (107) and Gustavus (109) for second, as just 13 points separated spots two through five in the standings. Bethel (160) finished sixth, Hamline (194) was seventh, Saint Mary's (214) took eighth, and Macalester (228), Augsburg (255) and Concordia (329) rounded out the final three spots of the men's 2015 MIAC standings.
This season, the Oles are again the prohibitive favorite, and are the only MIAC team currently ranked in the USTFCCCA national poll. St. Olaf is ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 2 in the Central Region. Gustavus has had an outstanding fall as well and is ranked No. 5 in the region, and has appeared in the national rankings several times this season as well. Saint John's is the region's seventh-ranked team, and St. Thomas (No. 10) gives the MIAC four of the top 10 in the Central Region.
Individually, the men's side will have a lot of new faces at the top of the leader board, as the top eight runners from 2015 all graduated, but seven of 15 All-Conference runners and six of 10 HM honorees are back.
St. Olaf returns has five returning runners that earned either All-MIAC or Honorable Mention honors last season. Joe Coffey and Keith Ketola both had top-12 finishes a year ago, and Sean Bjork earned Honorable Mention honors. Saint John's has Ryan Bugler (All-MIAC) back to lead the way in 2016 and he's joined by senior Brandon Franta and Maxwell Kuzara.
St. Thomas will be led by senior Trevor Smith, sophomore Allen-Michael Burback and first-year runner Spencer Urick. Gustavus has a pair of All-MIAC finishers back in Evan Jones – the top returner after finishing ninth in 2015 – and Thomas Knobbe – who has been named MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week twice this fall, as well as senior Carston Dammann, who earned Honorable Mention honors in 2015.
All-MIAC HM runner Jovan Newsum is back to lead Saint Mary's, and juniors Austin O'Hare and Brandon Krogman round out the Cardinals' top three. Macalester and Augsburg also have an HM selection back thanks to the return of Lachlan Hinwood and Abdul Salan, respectively. The Scots will also be led by sophomores Spencer Grant and Chris Boranian, and the Auggies have a senior laden lineup, with Chris Huss and Andrew McGillvary joining Salan in the lineup.
Carleton's Jerry Cook-Gallardo (HM) will be studying abroad this fall, so the Knights' will look to sophomore Tris Dodge, rookie Cameron Meikle and junior Hiroshi Nakajima to lead the way. Bethel brings back its No. 2 runner in sophomore Evan Hatton, and fellow sophomore Anders Rasmussen hopes his track success translates to the cross country course as well. Hamline's James Logan is back after just missing HM honors in 2015, and he'll be joined by freshman Fernando Benitez and sophomore Kyle Mehrhof, and Concordia will be led by the senior duo of Matthew Lillehaugen and Brandon Quibell, and also have high hopes for rookie runner Eric Wicklund.
The 2016 MIAC Cross Country Championships will start earlier than in past years. The women's 6k championship race will begin Saturday's meet at 11 a.m. and the men's 8k race will follow at 12 p.m. Once the results are tabulated and deemed final, a short awards ceremony will follow the conclusion of the men's race on the hillside near the clubhouse. The top 15 runners in each race will be honored as All-Conference selections, with runners finishing in places 16-to-25 receiving All-Conference Honorable Mention. The two team champions will also be honored and awarded their championship plaque.
Spectators are encouraged to attend the event and admission is free. All spectators are reminded to stay out of the runners' way on the course, and no dogs, bikes or artificial noisemakers are allowed on the course.
The MIAC has a home page for the event, which will be the first place to find results, recaps, photos and more online following the conclusion of the championships. The page also includes course maps for both the men's and women's races, directions to Como Golf Course and other helpful links. Macalester College is serving as the host institution for this year's championship and athletic training services will be provided by MIAC partner Twin Cities Orthopedic.
Concordia MIAC Meet Preview
Head coach
• Garrick Larson (20th season)
A Year Ago
• 11th place | 329 points
In the 2015 Postseason
• Finished 25th at the NCAA Central Region Meet.
Players to Watch
• Matthew Lillehaugen (Sr. | Fourth-place finish at the Cobber Invite; has been in the Top 3 of the team in all six meets in 2016)
• Brandon Quibell (Sr. | Has led the team in four of the five meets he has raced this year; third-place finish at the Cobber Invite)
• Eric Wicklund (Fr. | Fifth-place finish at the Crown Invite; has been in the Top 3 of the team in all six meets in 2016)
Did You Know?
• Senior Matthew Lillehaugen earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors last spring.