Carthage College 2008 Men’s Cross Country Preview
|
Name of school |
Carthage College |
|
Location |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
Founded |
1847 |
|
Enrollment |
2,234 |
|
Nickname |
Red Men |
|
School colors |
Red, white and black |
|
Home course |
Wisconsin-Parkside course or Lincoln Park |
|
Affiliation |
NCAA Division III |
|
Conference |
CCIW |
|
President |
F. Gregory Campbell |
|
Athletics director |
Robert R. Bonn |
|
Assistant athletics director |
Steve Marovich |
|
Senior woman administrator |
Leanne Ulmer |
|
Athletics Phone |
262-551-5942 |
|
First year of men’s cross country |
1950 |
|
Overall all-time record |
2,052-1,744-1 |
|
Years in NCAA championship |
Five |
|
CCIW championships |
1966, 1967, 1973 |
|
Sports information director |
Steve Marovich |
|
SID e-mail |
|
|
SID office phone |
262-551-5740 |
|
SID home phone |
262-551-5547 |
|
SID Fax |
262-551-5926 |
|
Athletics fax |
262-551-5995 |
|
Hotline |
262-551-5388 |
|
Athletics web site |
|
|
SID mailing address |
2001 Alford Park Drive Kenosha, WI 53140 |
Kenosha News
Dave Marran, sports editor
715 58th St./Kenosha, WI 53141
262-656-6290; 262-657-4946 (FAX)
Racine Journal-Times
Susan Shemanske, sports editor
212 4th St./Racine, WI 53403
262-631-1750; 262-631-1780 (FAX)
|
Head coach |
Brett Witt |
|
Record at school (years) |
510-304-1 (7) |
|
Career record (years) |
510-304-1 (7) |
|
Men’s cross country telephone |
262-551-6184 |
|
Best time to reach |
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
|
|
bwitt@carthage.edu |
|
Head athletics trainer |
Laurie Jensen |
|
2007 record |
75-45 |
|
CCIW championship finish |
5th |
|
Letterwinners returning/lost |
9/7 |
|
DATE |
DAY |
OPPONENT |
TIME/RESULT |
LOCATION |
|
Sept. 20 |
Sat. |
Concordia (Wis.) Invitational |
11 a.m. |
Mequon, Wis. |
|
Sept. 27 |
Sat. |
Minnesota “Roy Griak Invitational” |
10:30 a.m. |
Falcon Heights, Minn. |
|
Oct. 3 |
Fri. |
Carthage Invitational |
2:30 p.m. |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
Oct. 18 |
Sat. |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational |
10:45 a.m. |
Winneconne, Wis. |
|
Nov. 1 |
Sat. |
CCIW Championship |
Noon |
Kenosha, Wis. |
|
Nov. 15 |
Sat. |
NCAA Division III Midwest Regional |
11 a.m. |
Davenport, Iowa |
|
Nov. 22 |
Sat. |
NCAA Division III Championship |
11 a.m. |
Hanover, Ind. |
Times listed are Central Time, except as noted
Home meets in bold
SCHEDULE NOTES: The Sept. 20 Concordia (Wis.) Invitational” will be run on campus…the Sept. 27 University of Minnesota ‘Roy Griak Invitational" will be run at Les Bolstad Golf Course…the Oct. 3 Carthage Invitational will be run at the Wisconsin-Parkside course…the Oct. 18 Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational will run at the Lake Breeze Golf Course…Nov. 1 CCIW championship will be run at Wisconsin-Parkside…the Nov. 15 NCAA Midwest Regional will be held at the Credit Island Golf Course…the Nov. 22 NCAA championship will be conducted at the L.S. Ayres Complex.
R/L |
Name |
Yr. |
CCIW |
Time |
Honors |
|
L |
Michael White |
Grad |
4th |
25:26 |
All-CCIW and all-regional |
|
L |
Michael Bubolz |
Grad. |
23rd |
26:28 |
All-CCIW and all-regional |
|
R |
Justin Sebens |
So. |
33rd |
27:01 |
|
|
R |
Joel Brunner |
Sr. |
34th |
27:03 |
|
|
R |
Tylor Lewis |
Jr |
39th |
27:24 |
|
|
R |
Sean O’Connor |
Sr. |
45th |
27:52 |
|
2007 Season Review
The Carthage College men’s cross country team (75-45) finished eighth at the 2007 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis. Wisconsin-La Crosse won the 35-team championship event with 70 points, six points ahead of second-place Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 76. CCIW-member North Central College was third at 118, followed by conference-member Augustana College (Ill.) fourth at 152, Wisconsin-Platteville fifth at 178, CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill.) sixth at 210, Washington University (Mo.) seventh at 227 and Carthage eighth with 276 points. The eighth-place finish was the best-ever for the Red Men at the regional level.
Carthage’s Michael White (graduated-senior, New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) finished 13th at the regional championship with a career-best time of 24:45.96. White not only earned all-regional honors, but he qualified to compete in the 2007 NCAA Division III Cross Country championship as an individual. He finished 63rd at the national event, which was conducted at the St. Olaf College Skoglund Athletic Fields in Northfield, Minn., with a time of 25:34. The top-35 individual finishers earn NCAA Division III All-America honors. White was only the second Carthage cross country runner to qualify for the NCAA championship. Al Stiefel finished 59th at the 1965 NCAA College Division Cross Country Championship and 19th at the same event in 1969.
Michael Bubolz (graduated-senior, Reedsville, Wis./Kiel) was also all-regional with a 20th-place finish and a career-best time of 24:54.97. Justin Sebens (So., Seymour, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) was 79th at 25:56.53, Sean O’Connor (Sr., Rockford, Ill./Boylan Catholic) 81st with a career-best time of 26:05.83, and Joel Brunner (Sr., De Pere, Wis./West De Pere) finished 83rd with a career-best time of 26:08.46. Also finishing for Carthage were Tylor Lewis (Jr., Waterford, Wis./Union) 112th at 26:44.45 and Tyler Wishau (Jr., Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) 148th at 27:28.53.
Carthage finished fifth at the 2007 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Cross Country Championship at Maxwell Park in Bloomington, Ill. North Central College won its 41st conference title and its 34th in a row with 37 points, 25 points ahead of both Wheaton College (Ill.) and Augustana College (Ill.) at 62 each. Elmhurst College was fourth at 108, followed by Carthage fifth at 114, Millikin University sixth at 180, Illinois Wesleyan University seventh at 207 and North Park University eighth with 251 points.
Michael White earned All-CCIW honors with a fourth-place finish and a time of 25:26.12. Michael Bubolz was 23rd at 26:27.97, Justin Sebens 33rd at 27:00.47, Joel Brunner 34th at 27:02.52, and Tylor Lewis finished 39th with a 27:23.91 mark. Also finishing for the Red Men were Sean O’Connor 45th at 27:51.89, Tyler Wishau 48th at 28:14.64, Will Stanko (not returning, Bridgeview, Ill./Oak Lawn) 53rd at 28:34.79, Steven Horn (not returning, Kenosha, Wis./Tremper) 59th at 29:18.39 and Josh Solorio (So., West Allis, Wis./Milwaukee-West Allis Central) 65th at 29:45.41.
2008 Season Outlook
Coach Brett Witt returns nine-of-16 letterwinners from last year’s team but lost all-regional and all-conference runner Michael White and all-regional runner Michael Bubolz to graduation. Leading returnees include Justin Sebens (33rd at the CCIW championship, 79th at the regional), Joel Brunner (34th at the CCIW, 83 at the regional), Tylor Lewis (39th at the CCIW, 112th at the regional), Sean O’Connor (45th at the CCIW, 81st at the regional), Tyler Wishau (48th at the CCIW, 148th at the regional) and Josh Solorio (65th at the CCIW).
Top newcomers include Tom Baran (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Niles-Notre Dame, East Suburban Catholic Conference “runner of the year” in 2007), Derek Hall (Fr., Ingleside, Ill./Fox Lake-Grant Community, All-Lake County in both 2006 and 2007), Klayton Reed (Fr., Bluffton, Ind./Ossian-Norwell), Mike Ruff (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley, 2006 and 2007 All-Upstate 8 Conference), Ryan Weber (So., Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove/University of Kansas) and Russell Wetzel (Fr., Champaign, Ill./Central, All-Big 12 Conference in 2007).
“We had a great year in 2007,” said coach Witt, “and our eighth-place finish at the NCAA regional was our best in school history. That success has already had an impact on the 2008 squad. Our work ethic has been great, and I think this team has bought into the feeling that we can run with any team in the country. Our guys realize that, and they want build upon last year’s success. We know we lost our top-two runners to graduation, but the mentality among the guys coming back is that we can still improve upon what we did in 2007. This should be an exciting group of returnees, and they’ve worked really, really hard over the last year.”
“On top of that, continues Witt, “we have the deepest and possibly the most-talented group of newcomers than I’ve had in my nine years here. Tom Baran and Russell Wetzel are true distance runners and should make the adjustment to college cross country very well. Klayton Reed is an extremely-talented runner and could contribute this fall. Derek Hall is a little new to distance running, but he has an outstanding track and field season last year. Mike Ruff has a lot a big-meet experience from being a part of a 2008 team that won an Illinois High School Association title and the Nike Team Nationals. We also have Ryan Weber, a red-shirt transfer from the University of Kansas. Ryan may be a little race-rusty, be he’s another extremely-talented runner who could really contribute this fall.”
Carthage will run in four regular-season meets in 2008, including the Concordia University (Wis.) Invitational, the University of Minnesota “Ray Griak Invitational,” the Carthage Invitational and the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational.