GREAT MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Men's and Women's Cross Country Season Preview


G-MAC Men's and Women's Championships: Hosted by Cedarville University on Saturday, October 20, 2012 in Cedarville, Ohio at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course.

The Women's Championship Race (5,000 meter) will begin at 10:30 a.m., just prior to the start of the Men's Championship Race (8,000 meter) at 11:30 a.m.

Men's Preview - Top Returners

Cedarville is excited for the return of junior Matt Brooker, who was a 2011 redshirt after he was the 2010 Conference Runner-Up with a time of 24:56. He will be joined by Sophomore Ryan Gustafson, who was an NCCAA All-American (12^th of 209) in 2011 with a time of 26:22, and senior Josiah Bragg, who finished 16^th of 209 in NCCAA Championship and looks to improve on his personal best time of 26:06.

Trevecca Nazarene will be led by the trio of Spencer Cole, Chauncey Arner, and Cameron Savage. Arner ran a time of 30:24.91 in the NCCAA Championships, while Cole (30:39.08) and Savage (33:20.98), finished just behind their teammate.

Urbana will be paced by senior Jordan Perry, who is the top returning runner from last season with an average 8K time of 31:37, and junior Patrick Malloy, who is listed as the team’s second best runner returning - averaging a time of 33:50.
 
UVa-Wise has four of its top runners returning in Matt Parker, who placed 20th in the Maroon Invitational, Christian Bresnock, who placed 25th, Tyler Morris, who finished 30th, and Landry Mullins, who was 37th. The four runners will pair with three newcomers to improve upon a decent finish in 2011. 
 
Men’s Preview – Team News & Season Outlook
 
Cedarville lost two-time NCCAA All-American and the 2010 Champion, Evan Thayer from Naperville, Illinois, but the Yellow Jackets are hoping freshman recruit, Forrest Thayer, from Naperville, Illinois and Sergei Brubaker (West Milton, Ohio) can bring another wave of talent to an established program.  Last season, Cedarville finished in second (out of 30) as a team at the NCCAA, and tenth (out of 45) at theAll-Ohio Championships. In 2012, Matt Brooker will return to action after redshirting in 2011. He was regarded as the team’s top runner in 2010 and will look to lead a strong veteran roster. The team will host four meets, including the All-Ohio Championships, the G-MAC Championships, and the NCCAA Championships. With a veteran roster and the ability to train on a course that will be the venue for multiple championship races, Cedarville will look to add to its impressive tradition of titles (seven NCCAA National Individual Champions and eight NAIA All-Americans) as they transfer from the NAIA into full NCAA Division II membership as a member of the G-MAC. 

Trevecca Nazarene is headed in a new direction under new head coach Brad Peterson, who comes to Trevecca after four years at Friends University (NAIA - Wichita, Kansas). At Friends, Peterson took the cross country program, which had no past success and made them nationally ranked.  Last season, his cross country teams (men and women) won their conference championships to qualify for nationals for the first time in school history. It is this type of change and success that Trevecca is looking to provide its student-athletes, and quickly. It begins with this recruiting class, in which the top three recruits - Josh Winski, Michael Pretorius, and Reed Mitchell - are expected to fight for the top three spots on the team. With only a three-year program history, a majority of records should fall as the team looks to post competitive times in the G-MAC and see all the runners lower their personal best times.
 
Urbana losses its best overall runner for the last four years in Eddie Erion, who owns five of the Top-10 times in Urbana cross country history. Perry, Malloy and Ryan Castle Jr. all need to their individual times. Perry’s time of 30:30 at the Wilmington College Fall Classic last season is the top time in the program’s four-year history by someone other than Eddie Erion or Andrew Stephan. New Head Coach Kevin Horne, who is the third Head Coach in the program’s four years, is a first time college cross country coach coming from nearby London High School after turning the Red Raiders’ program into a perennial powerhouse.
 
UVa-Wise welcomes to the team three freshmen – Josh Willcuts, Sean Johnson, and Jake Garmen. The three of them will need to replace only one lost senior from 2011, Colin Skeen, who was an All-Academic Mid-South Conference runner and had the team’s top placing (13th) at the Maroon Invitational. As a full member of the G-MAC, but just entering the NCAA Division II membership – Wise will still compete and run in the Mid-South Conference Champions, but through collaborative scheduling, they will also take part in the first G-MAC Cross Country Championships as well.
 
Women’s Preview – Top Returners
 
Cedarville will be led by a trio of seniors: Hannah Lamos, Meghan Terrell, and Neola Putnam. All three were named NCCAA All-Americans, while Lamos was the 2011 NCCAA Women’s Champion with a top time of 18:29 (5K). Putnam and Terrell finished the race close behind Lamos, earning times of 18:35 and 18:55 respectively.

Trevecca Nazarene will look to Audra Fullen and Rachel Mudd to provide leadership to a very young and inexperienced roster during the transition into a new coaching staff.
 
Urbana will look to sophomore Melissa Bell – was Urbana Female Runner of the Year, leading the team in every race as a true freshman last season. She ran the fourth fastest 5K in school history at Wilmington, earning Blue Knight Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Her season average 5K was 25:54. Sophomore Liz Lynch joins Bell, ranking as the team’s second best runner with an average time of 28:31.
 
Ursuline is expected to be led by senior Katie Brobst and a pair of sophomores – Erica Dingman and Madgie Dunn. Dunn finished as the top runner for Ursuline in four of the teams seven meets, while Brobst and Dingman ran consistent times and have the ability to set personal best times each time out.
 
UVa-Wise will return All-Academic Mid-South Conference runner Emily Brock, along with Megan Hilliard and Samantha Balthis – who both placed well at the Maroon Invitational in 2011. The trio will lead six returners and three newcomers that will look to replace Brittany Butler, the team’s top finisher at the Maroon Invitational, and All-Academic Mid-South Conference runner Kayla Balthis.
 
Women’s Preview – Team News & Season Outlook
 
Cedarville shows its strength as they shouldn’t miss a beat despite losing NCCAA All-American Rachel Wong. Top newcomers Alexandra Archambault and Kristen Laaman – both coming to Ohio from New Hampshire – will add depth to a veteran led group. As a team, the Yellow Jackets finished second (out of 30) in the NCCAA Championships and tenth (out of 45) in the All-Ohio Championships. As stated in the Men’s preview above, Cedarville will host four separate meets, including the All-Ohio Championships, the G-MAC Championships, and the NCCAA Championships. As the school’s top athletic program, the women’s cross country program will look to continue to carry the torch as the department heads into its first year as an active member of the NCAA Division II and the G-MAC.

Trevecca Nazarene will return only two runners, while losing four and bringing in six new runners to compete for the top spots on the team. Under new head coach Brad Peterson, whose experience in rebuilding programs is previewed above, the Lady Jackets are expecting the six newcomers, led by Katherine Carmody, Kayla Daniell and Morgan Dykes, to break a majority of the young programs records. Under a new direction, this could be Trevecca’s best roster in program history.
 
Urbana lost its female runner of the year from 2011 and team captain, but senior Sara White, who owns the top two times in school history, should be able to lead this young but talented roster. The Blue Knights return five of their top seven runners from a season ago.  A renewed dedication to the program under new Head Coach Kevin Horne could see the Blue Knights notch a new school record for wins while re-writing much of the record books in the program’s fourth year of existence.
 
Ursuline is another program in the middle of a change, turning the coaching duties over to Ralph White, who comes to Ursuline with a tremendous amount of experience and success at all levels. White has coached 36 individuals to national titles, 15 Olympians and 350 NCAA All-Americans. As for the 2012 Arrows roster, White will coach the seven returning runners to help in their improvement while working on recruiting efforts to build the program up for future years. The youth on this team in Dingman and Dunn will help the program in their effort to build, knowing the top runners are around for the next few years.
 
UVa-Wise, who is a full member of the G-MAC, but just entering the NCAA Division II membership, will still compete and run in the Mid-South Conference Champions, but through collaborative scheduling, they will also take part in the first G-MAC Cross Country Championships as well. Newcomers Whitney Carico, Madison Compton and Candice Polo will look to help the team improve upon its seventh place (of nine) finish in last year’s Mid-South Conference Championships.