XC leads pack at IIAC meet

The men’s and women’s cross country teams put together impressive performances this weekend at the IIAC Championship Meet, which was held at the Lake Creek Golf Course in Alto, Iowa.

The men’s team won the meet, finishing an impressive eleven points ahead of second-place Loras College.

Coached by Steve Pasche, who won the 2008 IIAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year award, the Norse had six runners finish in the top fifteen and claim All-Conference honors. David McKay (‘09) was the first of the Norse to cross the finish-line. His second-place finish time of 24:13:51 was only seven seconds behind first-place finisher Brian Chenoweth of Wartburg College.

Following McKay for the conference champion Norse was Erik Johnson (‘11), who finished ninth with a time of 24:54:56, Shane Steele (‘12), who finished tenth with a time of 25:55:50, Kyle Buck (‘11), who finished thirteenth with a time of 24:59:93, Jordan Lang (‘11), who finished fourteenth with a time of 25:00:20 and Drew Burmahl (‘10), who finished fifteenth with a time of 25:00:88.

The women also put together a good showing at the meet, finishing second to Wartburg with a score of 49 to the Knights’ 28.

The Norse were led by All-American Janet Dobyns (‘09), who finished third with a time of 20:59:94 and earned All-Conference honors.

Following Dobyns for the Norse were three upperclassmen, led by Elise Bennett (‘09), who finished ninth with a time of 21:30:45, Becky Eckerman (‘10), who finished tenth with a time of 21:33:61 and Flannery Cerbin (‘09), who finished in eleventh place with a time of 21:35:59. Bennett, Eckerman and Cerbin all earned All-Conference honors as well for their top-fifteen finishes.

Katie Dolan (‘10) and Annie McKay (‘11) narrowly missed out on those honors, finishing in 16th and 17th place, respectively.

After their impressive performances in the conference meet, both the men’s and women’s teams are now gearing up to compete in the regional meet, which is being held at the Oakland Acres Golf Course in Grinnell, Iowa on Nov. 15.

Both teams expect top five finishes in the meet, and both hope to qualify for the NCAA Division III National meet with two more solid performances in Grinnell.