Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Bethel University Women’s Cross Country team is looking to move into the top tier in the team standings after a disappointing finish a year ago.  The Lady Royals have had very strong team performances at the St. Olaf Invitational, the Roy Griak Invitational, and the Oshkosh Brooks Invitational, where they defeated a couple nationally ranked teams and came within 18 points of a 2^nd place finish, which is providing momentum going into the conference meet. Leading the way is All Conference and last year’s runner up performer, Nikki Umhoefer. A great addition to the team this year has been Marie Borner who is really running well and should vie along with Nikki for the individual title.

In addition to Nikki and Marie are a host of very strong and talented freshman, including Julia Holm, Kristin Mork, Kayla Jelen, and Kristin Tengwall. Rounding out the team and adding depth are veterans Angie Mumbleau, Hannah Carlson and Emily Anderson.

The Knights enjoy the leadership of a senior class that helped Carleton qualify three times for the NCAA Championships and repeat as MIAC Champions in 2004 and 2005.

The Knights have placed among the top three teams in the conference during nine of the previous 13 years. In addition to a pair of MIAC crowns, Carleton recorded runner-up finishes in 1995, 2002 and 2006.

Carleton has been building momentum throughout the fall season and is ranked eighth in the central region. The Knights ran without two of their top runners for the majority of the schedule.

Sophomores Sarah Forzley (South Windsor, Conn.) and Laura Roach (Lakeville, Minn./North) have paced the Knights throughout the fall. Forzley has three top-12 finishes to go with her 60th place showing at the Roy Griak Invitational. Roach owns a pair of Top-10 finishes this season and came in 64th at Roy Griak. She earned honorable mention at the 2006 MIAC Championships as she finished 16th.

One of the biggest additions for the squad has been the mid-season comeback of Karen Campbell (Jr./Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) who was held out of competition the first four weeks due to injury. Upon returning to active racing, Campbell has posted finishes of eighth and 13th place. She earned All-MIAC honors with her eighth place finish at the 2006 MIAC Championships.

The 2007 Concordia women’s cross country team returns to having one standout runner and several quality team runners. Freshman Hailey Brenden (Rothsay, Minn.) has led the Cobbers in four of the team’s five meets this season and will make a push to earn all-conference honors in her very first conference meet.

Concordia will be looking to improve on their seventh-place finish from the 2006 meet and get back into the top six of the conference for the first time since 2002.          

Brenden has posted a pair of third-place finishes in 2007. She claimed third place in the UND Invitational in a time of 19:05 and then equaled that finish by coming in third at the Jamestown Invitational with a mark of 19:26.11. Brenden also has a top 30 finish at the prestigious Drews-Neubauer Invite and a top 40 place at the Roy Griak Invite. Her time of 23:13 at the Drew-Neubauer Meet is the fastest of the season over a championship course.

After Brenden, Concordia will be looking for fast finishes from seniors Meagan Hansen (Minot, N.D.) and Maria Middleton (Northfield, Minn.), sophomore Anna Hagen (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and freshman Rachel Pederson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS). All four have rounded out the top five for Concordia in the past three meets of the season, and all four have steadily improved throughout the year.

The old childhood tale of the tortoise and the hare is all too familiar with most of us, but especially so with the Blazers cross country runners.  The Blazers will draw from the wisdom of familiar tale by modeling their running styles after the endless perseverance of the tortoise and the blazing speed of the hare.

Entering her eleventh season as College of Saint Benedict cross country coach, Robin Balder-Lanoue returns her five top runners from the 2006 season. Something of a rarity in collegiate sports today.  Balder-Lanoue’s veteran squad logged close to 11,170 miles in a grueling off-season training regimen, with the hopes of yielding favorable results as the season wears on.  After finishing 9th at the NCAA Division III Central Regional Meet in Chicago last season, this is a team that is determined to go even further and won’t stop at anything -- until that vision becomes a reality.

Seniors Kaylee Rasmussen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia H.S.) and Kristin Haubrich (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee H.S.) will lead the class of 2008. Rasmussen earned honorable mention All-MIAC honors with a 23rd place finish at the 2006 MIAC championships while Haubrich was named to the first inaugural MIAC Sportsmanship Team.  Junior Maggie Donahue (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata H.S.) returns after a 2006 season which she took third at the SJU Invitational, first at the DQ Fall Freeze hosted by UW-Superior and 21st at the MIAC Championships.  Sophomore Margot Branigan (Roseville, Minn./Roseville H.S.) returns after a first-year campaign which she took first at the SJU Invitational and lead CSB with a 17th place finish at the MIAC Championships earning her All-MIAC honors.

This season will provide a platform for last season’s stars to cement a legacy at the College of Saint Benedict, and a stage for new stars to be born from the woodworks.  The beginning of any season usually brings with it a sense of optimism, but the Blazers optimism is grounded in a gifted group of women with the determination to make this season special.