October 28, 2009
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Carthage Men’s Cross Country Fifth at CCIW Championship;
NCAA Midwest Regional Next on Nov. 14 in Winneconne, Wis.
This Week/Next Action: The Carthage College men’s cross country team (44-47) is idle on Saturday, Nov. 7 and concludes its season on Saturday, Nov.14 at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis., beginning at Noon. Wisconsin-Oshkosh is the host school for this year’s regional.
2009 CCIW Championship: Carthage finished fifth at the Saturday, Oct. 31 at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Cross Country Championship at Eldridge Park in Elmhurst, Ill. North Central College won its 43rd league title and its 36th in a row with a perfect 15 points. The Cardinal swept the top-nine spots in the race. Augustana College (Ill.) was second at 54, followed by Wheaton College (Ill.) third at 91, Illinois Wesleyan University fourth at 116, Carthage fifth at 153, Elmhurst College sixth at 161, North Park University seventh at 198 and Millikin University eighth with 246 points.
2008 NCAA Midwest Regional: Carthage (52-58) concluded its 2008 season by finishing 15th at the Saturday, Nov. 15 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill. CCIW-member North Central College won the 39-team regional championship with 51 points, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse second at 64, Wisconsin-Stevens Point third at 83, Wisconsin-Oshkosh fourth at 134, CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) fifth at 182, Wisconsin-Eau Claire sixth at 200, conference-member Wheaton College (Ill.) seventh at 228, Wisconsin-Platteville eighth at 274, the University of Chicago ninth at 291, Washington University (Mo.) 10th at 292, Wisconsin-Whitewater 11th at 321, Wisconsin-River Falls 12th at 402, Wisconsin-Stout 13th at 419, St. Norbert College 14th at 438 and Carthage 15th with 455 points.
2008 NCAA Championship: CCIW-members North Central College and Augustana College (Ill.) both earned automatic berths in the Saturday, Nov. 22 NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship by finishing in the top-five at the Nov. 15 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship. North Central won the regional title, while Augustana (Ill.) finished fifth. Cortland State University won the national title with 51 points, 11 points ahead of second-place North Central at 62. Augustana (Ill.) finished 21st. Hanover College was the host institution for the 2008 championship, which was run at its L.S. Ayres Complex in Hanover, Ind. Both teams qualified for nationals in 2007, with Augustana (Ill.) finishing 15th and North Central 16th. In addition to the two conference teams, three individual CCIW runners were invited to the championship. Brandon Mull from Wheaton College (Ill.) finished fourth at 24:36.23, Brian Wurtz from Wheaton (Ill.) finished 53rd at 25:14.94, and Elmhurst College’s Pat Austin finished 149th at 25:53.12. Mull was the individual winner at the CCIW Men’s Cross Country Championship and at the NCAA regional.
The Coach: Brett Witt is in his ninth year as head coach in 2009 (606-409-1, 9 years) after serving as an assistant coach for both the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 64th year in 2009-10, has sponsored men's cross country as a championship sport since 1960. North Central College has dominated the sport since then, winning 43 league titles thru 2009, including the last 36 in a row. Carthage won CCIW championships in 1966, 1967 and 1973. North Central has won every year since 1973.
CCIW “Runner of the Week”: North Central College’s Michael Spain (Jr., Schaumburg, Ill.) was named CCIW “Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week” on Oct. 20. Spain placed second out of 551 runners at the Oct. 17 Wisconsin-Oshkosh “Brook Invitational” with a time of 24:25 on an 8K course, helping North Central win the meet.
The Polls: CCIW-member North Central College was ranked first in the final, regular-season U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches NCAA Division III poll, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse second, Geneseo State University third, Cortland State University fourth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point fifth, Allegheny College sixth, New York University seventh, Dickinson College eighth, Wisconsin-Platteville ninth and Williams College 10th, and CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) ranked 11th. North Central also led the final, regular-season Midwest regional rankings, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse second, Wisconsin-Stevens Point third, Wisconsin-Platteville fourth, CCIW-member Augustana (Ill.) fifth, Wisconsin-Whitewater sixth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire seventh, Wisconsin-Oshkosh eighth, Washington University (Mo.) ninth and Wisconsin-River Falls tied with conference-member Wheaton College (Ill.) for 10th place.
Oct. 31 CCIW Championship Results: North Central College’s Sean Carlson won the 8K race at the CCIW Men’s Cross Country Championship with a time of 26:33.80. Josh Keck (Fr., Minooka, Ill.), in 24th place at 28:15.80, was the top finisher for the Red Men. Jake Mahaffey (Fr., Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) was 26th at 28:27.20, Justin Sebens (Jr., Seymour, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) 29th at 28:38.70, Tyler Wishau (Sr., Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) 35th at 28:48.70, and Tom Baran (So., Chicago, Ill./Niles-Notre Dame) was 39th at 29:10.90. Also finishing for Carthage were Derek Hall (So., Ingleside, Ill./Fox Lake-Grant Community) 42nd at 29:39.30, Grant Seiler (Fr., Greenfield, Wis./Milwaukee-Whitnall) non-scoring at 29:40.10, Tylor Lewis (Sr., Waterford, Wis./Union) non-scoring at 29:53.90 and Alex Nelson (Fr., Red Wing, Minn.) non-scoring at 30:17.20.