Cross-Country Ready to Begin Season
Saint Bonifacius, Minn - The 2009 season will begin on the road for the Crown Mens and Womens Cross Country teams. After an informal early season meet against North Central College and Northwestern on September 1; the Storm will take to the air for the Rust Buster Invitational in Colorado Springs, CO on Friday, September 4. “The Rust Buster Meet will give us an early season baseline of our fitness”, said third year coach Rick Peterson. “We will remain in Colorado for a couple additional days to focus on some additional training in the mountains and team building.”
The women’s team will return their top runner from last year in Sophomore Erika Stampfl. Stampfl will be joined by a strong cast of returning runners. Junior Kelsey Morrow and Sophomores Hannah Dean and Cherie Hecimovich are anticipated to be among the front runners for the women. Strong support and leadership will be offered by Juniors Megan Kunde and Kristin Kalvig. New runners include Rebecca McBride (Glencoe, MN), Natalie Merboth (Chanhassen, MN), and Summer Pfaff (Keizer, OR). "Our women’s team should be improved from a year ago”, said Peterson. We’re off to a bit of a challenging start with Erika (Stampfl) being injured; but all of the women are working hard and growing stronger each day. Summer (Pfaff) will be one of our top runners. Kelsey, Hannah, and Cherie all put in some good summer training that will pay off. We have very strong team leadership from our captains Megan (Kunde), Cherie (Hecimovich) and the other returning runners.”
For the men, 2009 will be a year of rebuilding. Last year’s conference track champion, school record holder and NCCAA All American Seth Brickley has graduated, but other new runners will make an impact of their own. Junior captain Kyle Pitts will lead the men’s team that will include freshman Vince Elmhorst (Neillsville, WI), Simon Kutzer (Buffalo, MN), Mike Palmer (Newton, Iowa), and Adam Fuerst. "Our men are all looking good in practice and are fairly close in ability”, said Peterson. “As they gain experience; I anticipate they will help each other to improve quickly. They are working hard and looking strong in practice. We still have some recruiting to do to round out the team. Our goal is to build a strong base with the new runners and to show steady improvement throughout the season.”
New this season will be assistant coach Jackie Johnson. Jackie spent 10 years of competitive running experience in cross country and track programs at various levels. She competed, and was the captain, at Bethel University (MN). Jackie is completing a graduate degree in teaching and resides in Waconia, Minn with her husband and three sons.
After returning from Colorado, the Storm will host the Crown College Invitational on September 12. Seven colleges are expected to compete on the challenging course on the Crown campus. The action begins at 10:15 am with the women’s 6K race, followed by the men’s 8K race at 11:00 am.
