Men’s and Women’s CC Recap

Slushing through 3 inches of snow and battling howling wind chills that reached minus 10 froze the SIUC men’s and women’s cross country teams chances at Midwest Regional Championships Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

The women’s team finished in 17th place out of 24 teams, while the men’s team finished a disappointing 16th place in the 22-team meet in the Salukis’ final meet of the season.

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Women’s coach Don DeNoon said the weather was a formidable obstacle for many of the runners.

The course was completely covered with snow, DeNoon said. It was like a frozen tundra.

I feel the weather affected them a little. The snow slowed them down, and their times were slow from our first runner down to the last.

The women’s team was led by Jenny Monaco’s 65th-place finish out of 161 runners and a time of 20 minutes and 6 seconds.

Following Monaco were Raina Larsen in 85th place (20:21), Gayla Harrington in 94th place (20:29), Becky Cox in 105th place (20:44). Erin Leahy rounded out the Salukis’ top-five with a 111th-place finish (20:48).

The University of Missouri won the meet with 76 points, followed by the University of Nebraska with 81 points and the University of Minnesota in third with 107 points. The Salukis finished with 460 points.

Cox enjoyed the experience of running in the tough conditions despite a disappointing team finish.

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It put a little bit of a damper on things at first, Cox said. But actually it was kind of fun because I’ve never ran in the snow before.

Men’s coach Bill Cornell was hoping for his team to regroup from a poor sixth-place Missouri Valley Conference showing in Springfield, Mo., Nov. 1, but 16th place was not what he was looking for.

It’s tough to put a finger on it, Cornell said. Physically, they’re in good shape. I don’t know if it’s a mental problem or what, because I can’t give them that killer instinct. They have to do that on their own.

The men’s team was led by Jeremy Parks, who finished in 70th place (35:03) in a field of 155 runners.

Following Jeremy Parks were Andy Bosak in 77th place (35:18), Matt McClelland in 80th place (35:22), Ben Basalay in 84th place (35:30) and Joseph Parks in 91st place (35:46).

Oklahoma State University came away with the victory in the meet with 86 points, followed by the University of Minnesota with 94 points and the University of Nebraska with 101 points. The Salukis finished with 402 points.

Cornell said the team had the potential to perform much better but could not come together in the end.

We’re a good, solid team, but we can’t put it together, Cornell said. Something’s definitely wrong when your top man finishes in 70th place.

But Cornell would not completely blame the weather on the team’s poor performance.

The wind chill was the worst problem, but all the teams had to deal with it, Cornell said.

Saluki runner Matt McClelland said the team struggled with the conditions of the course.

The wind was unbearable and the hills were tough to run on because of the snow, McClelland said. Plus, everyone ran a bad race on the same day.

The men’s team is now in preparation for the start of the indoor track season, which begins Dec. 6 at Illinois State University.