Friday, October 23, 2009
Dragons compete at NSIC meet Men anticipate success, women hope to run hard, prepare for Regionals
The Dragon cross-country team has been on fire the past few weeks with the men’s team placing first at three of their last four meets. The women’s team has also been competing well with junior Anna VanWechel placing first at this past weekend’s pre-regional meet.
“We race against eight teams so being in the top three is like a win, but we’ve been winning meets,” sophomore Kevin Huot said.
The women’s team as a whole has not fared as well as the men’s team this season due to illnesses and other complications. This prevented the team from racing with a full team in a few of their meets.
“We have had some people who had to sit out in the past few meets, but we hope to have everyone back for the upcoming NSIC Championships this weekend,” VanWechel said.
“It’s been a rebuilding year for the women, but we hope to run hard at the meet. My hope is that all of us improve our times and we’ll just see how we do.”
Assistant coach Cley Twigg said that this year’s season has been especially successful on the men’s side. He thinks that although the women have seen a lot of sick members he hopes they will prove themselves this weekend.
“We’ve been successful because of our leadership,” Twigg said. “The leaders on the team are all great runners and great leaders.”
The competition for the NSIC title is fierce this year with teams like Augustana and MSU-Mankato in the running for the title alongside MSUM.
“Everyone’s going to need to show up and run their best race,” Huot said. “It’s going to be close and will probably be between us, Mankato and Augustana. The regional conference is going to be even tougher. We’re in the toughest conference and the toughest region in the nation. The number one team from last year is in our region, and several of the top ten schools are in our region as well.”
Twigg said that he thinks the men’s team is “in the mix for the championship.”
Both teams look forward to finishing this year strong while training and preparing for next year.
“I think we’ll do well this year and even better next year,” VanWechel said.
Both teams compete in the NSIC Championships in Bemidji on Saturday.