The Knights won a total of five meets while finishing second twice and third once, posting a head-to-head record of 82-14 on the season. The national meet appearance was the eighth for the Knights.

While the 2005 team will be hard-pressed to repeat the heroics of last season’s squad, this year’s Knights might be deeper than last year’s team and could be building towards another post-season run in October and November.

Lost to graduation is last year’s frontrunner, Cassie Funke ’05. She was Carleton’s leader throughout the season, finishing runner-up at the conference meet and grabbing All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, placing 22nd. The finish allowed Funke to earn All-America honors and helped the Knights to their best NCAA Championships finish since the 1991 team placed seventh. Only three other Carleton runners, including national champions Shelley Scherer ‘89 and Anna (Prineas) Catanese ‘89, have recorded better finishes than Funke at the national meet.

The Knights return four of their top six runners from last year’s team and add a talented and deep group of newcomers in their bid to become only the third school to repeat as MIAC champions. Senior co-captain Becky Schaumberg (Jr./Portland, Ore./Grant) and a trio of sophomores, Meghan Miller (Corvallis, Ore./Crescent Valley) Katherine Wingert (Coronado, Calif.) and Heather Hoecker (Rochester, Minn./Century), will lead this charge. The Knights will be gunning for their ninth top-three MIAC Championships finish under head coach Donna Ricks, now in her 13th season after earning the MIAC Coach of the Year award last year.

“The last two years have been really strong and talented recruiting classes for us, so our freshmen and sophomore classes will have a huge impact on our team,” Ricks said. Among the newcomers that will battle for top spots, according to Ricks, are Lindsey Nietmann (Kirkland, Wash./Juanita), Karen Campbell (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Kate Meyer (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy). This trio will need to make the quick adjustment to the six-kilometer race featured at the collegiate level. “The transition should come pretty easily to them,” Ricks said. “It’s more of a mental adjustment than a physical one.”

While Ricks was quick to note the team must move on and not dwell on last year’s successes, she feels the Knights must bring forward some of the traits of the 2004 squad.

“We need to continue to be mentally and physically prepared for each race,” Ricks said. “We have to be as diligent in both areas as we were last year.”

Team chemistry also played a major role in Carleton’s success last season, and that is another factor that needs to be a part of the 2005 group, Ricks said. “The team coming together and supporting one another will be key,” she said. “I think that’s why we went so far last year because of how tight the team was.”

One area where the 2005 Knights will be different from their predecessors is a positive one, as Ricks believes her squad is deeper this time around. “Last year, I felt we were one injury away from not being able to perform at the big meets,” she said. “This year there will be a lot of change within our top seven, both which runners are there and the order they’re finishing.”

If the Knights can carry the momentum from last year, develop their young runners and stay healthy, Carleton will challenge for its third conference title and a return trip to the NCAA Championships.

The roster is comprised of a hungry group of veterans who trained hard during the off-season and a group of talented first-year runners who are driven to become impact performers on the team.

Returning to the team for her final season is senior All American and MIAC Champion Leah Wurm. Wurm looks to pick up right where she ended the 2004 season by running successful races and keeping the Blazers in a position to finish strong.

Other returners with top seven experience, include senior Emily Cook who was out last year with a back injury, but was in the top five consistently in 2003. Juniors Corey Hickner who ran number two for the Blazers last fall, and Rose Spring who was consistently in the top five will help push the entire team.

CSB expects to have several athletes competing for the top seven running positions. Along with some fit returning runners, the Blazers will look to their first-year runners to be a force on the team.

Erin Weier (Jr., Faribault, Minn.)

Stephanie Block (Jr., Hopkins, Minn.)

Erin Bengston (Flower Mound, Texas/Marcus)

Sarah Estill (Shoreline, Wash./Lakeside)

Jenny Olin (Jr.)

Ronni Hamilton (Sr.)

Tracy McCubbin (Jr.)

2004 All-Conference (Top 15 All-Conf.)
1  Leah Wurm, CSB          18:53.3
2  Cassie Funke, CAR       19:07.8
3  Amy Lyons, BU           19:13.2
4  Keidra Anderson, HU     19:20.6
5  Erin Weier, STO         19:37.1
6  Nichole Petersen, GAC   19:37.7
7  Natalie Hanson, CON     19:39.1
8  Laura Jean Hudson, CAR  19:43.0
9  Brigid Power, UST       19:47.4
10 Lydia Davitt, GAC       19:48.0
11 Lacee Schrupp, HU       19:49.0
12 Chelsea Guettinger, UST 19:50.6
13 Ellen Waldow, AUG       19:58.5
14 Koby Hagen, MAC         20:02.6
15 Francie Streich, MAC    20:03.2