Illinois Wesleyan 2006 Cross Country Stories

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January 7
Senior Mary Kate Gergel and junior Lane Coonrod have been chosen as the "Most Valuable Performers" for the Illinois Wesleyan women's and men's cross country teams, respectively. Gergel was the Titans’ low finisher at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet, coming in 27th with a time of 25:01.35. Coonrod was IWU’s low finisher in six meets this season, including a 29th place finish at the CCIW meet. He was 54th in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional with a season-best time of 26:00.5 seconds. In other team honors, freshman Katelyn Draths and sophomore Jay Paynda were chosen as their respective teams’ “Hardest Workers” while freshmen Kerry Devitt and Walter Farris were honored as the “Best Newcomers.”

November 11
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished 16th (of 38) and the men's team placed 24th (of 37) at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, held at Credit Island Golf Course in Davenport, Iowa on Sat., Nov. 11. The women had 497 points and the men had 691. The low finishers for the IWU women were Megan Byrne (90th, 23:54.5), Jennifer Baugh (92nd, 23:56.6) and Amy Burns (102nd, 24:10.5). Lane Coonrod was the men's low finisher at 54th place (26:00.5) while Wally Farris was 94th (26:42.2). The team winners were Washington U. (women) and Wis.-LaCrosse (men) with 56 and 65 points, respectively.

October 28
The Illinois Wesleyan women's team placed sixth and the men's team placed seventh in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, held on Oct. 28 at Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth, Ill. For the women, Mary Kate Gergel finished 27th with her time of 25:01.35 and Megan Byrne was 30th with a run of 25:18.78 as the IWU team scored 161 points. The men's team had 200 points as the leading runners were Lane Coonrod (29th, 27:16.23) and Walter Farris (36th, 27:52.75). North Central won both the men's and women's championships with 37 and 30 points, respectively.

October 14
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished 25th and the men's team was 28th at the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Invitationals on Sat., Oct. 14. The Titan women got 768 points and were led by Jenny Baugh, who placed 135th with her time of 24:30, and Kerry Devitt, whose time of 24:39 was 144th. For the men, who had 860 points, Lane Coonrod was 121st with a time of 27:00 and Wally Farris was 157th with a run of 27:35. The Division I Wisconsin men took first place with 37 points and South Dakota State won the women's title with 81 points.

October 7
Competing against runners from all NCAA divisions, the Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished 20th and the men's team placed 25th at the SIU-Edwardsville "Border Wars" on Sat., Oct. 7. Junior Jenny Baugh finished 111th in the 5K race with a time of 20:41.26 and freshman Kerry Devitt placed 112th with her time of 20:41.77. Lane Coonrod was the low IWU male finisher, placing 100th in the 8,000-meter run with his time of 27:32.50. The IWU women had 576 points and the men had 779; Washington U. won the women's team title with 79 points and Missouri Southern State won the men's, also with 79 points.

September 22
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team placed 12th among 33 entrants with 378 points in the Augustana Brissman-Lundeen Invitational at Davenport, Iowa, on Fri., Sept. 22. Senior Megan Byrne led the Titans in 61st place with her time of 24:05. Division I University of Illinois won the women’s team title with 16 points and Illinois' Angela Bizzarri won the 6,000-meter race in 20 minutes, 54 seconds, 12 seconds. In the 39-team men's division, IWU finished 25th with 689 points as Lane Coonrod was the Titans’ low man with a time of 27:54 to finish in 104th place. Augustana was the team champ with 68 points and Iowa Central's Hillary Samoei finished first in 25:16.

September 16
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team had six of the top 10 finishers and won the Old English Classic on Sept. 16, held at Leeson Park in Beloit, Wis. The Titans had 25 points as second place Wis.-Superior was second with 61 points. IWU freshman Kerry Devitt  was fourth with her time of 21:43.7 while other top 10 finishers were Katelyn Draths, MaryKate Gergel, Jennifer Baugh, Ashley Heilingoetter, and Ewelina Wojnawska. The IWU men's team finished fifth with 122 points as junior Lane Coonrod placed 14th with his time of 28:43. Milwaukee School of Engineering won the men's title with 52 points.

September 1
The Illinois Wesleyan University men’s cross country team finished nine of 18 teams and the Titan women’s team was sixth of 17 at the Elmhurst Earlybird Invitational on Fri., Sept. 1. In the 5000 meter run, freshman Walter Farris had a time of 16:37 and placed 27th and junior Lane Coonrod was 35th with his time of 16:45.18. For the women, freshman Kerry Devitt was 36th with a time of 12:47 over the 3200 meter course and freshman Ewelina Wojnawska was 38th with her time of 12:47.20.

June 2006
The Illinois Wesleyan University men's and women's cross country teams will begin their 2006 seasons at the Elmhurst "Earlybird" Invitational at 5 p.m. in Elmhurst. Seven men and seven women return as letterwinners for second-year coach Greg Huffaker, including seniors Matt Martin (last year's "Most Valuable Performer" for the men's squad) and Megan Byrne (who finished eighth in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet in 2005). The schedule features a meet in Bloomington on Fri., Nov. 3 - the "National Invitational 2-Mile" will begin at 5:30 p.m.