2007 Carthage Women’s Cross Country Review/2008 Season Outlook

2007 Season Review

The Carthage College women’s cross country team (82-45) finished fifth at the 2007 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Cross Country Championship at Maxwell Park in Bloomington, Ill.  Wheaton College (Ill.) won its eighth conference title with 41 points, six points ahead of second-place North Central College at 47.  Augustana College (Ill.) was third at 83, followed by Elmhurst College fourth at 99, Carthage fifth at 113, Illinois Wesleyan University sixth at 134 and Millikin University seventh at 216.  North Park University did not field a team in the championship.

Carthage’s Karen Jackson (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Downs-Tri Valley) earned All-CCIW honors with a sixth-place finish and a time of 23:25.96.  Megan Johnson (Sr., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) also earned all-conference honors by finishing 12th at 24:01.61.  Laura Pearson (Sr., Twin Lake, Wis.) was 18th at 24:19.60, Molly Lawrence (So., Plainfield, Ill./Central) 41st at 25:28.00, and Julia Hiett (Jr., Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) was 43rd with a 25:33.41 mark.  Also finishing for the Lady Reds were Justine Petras (graduated-senior, McHenry, Ill./Woodstock-Marian Central Catholic) 44th at 25:35.86, Kathy Zbella (graduated-senior, Chicago, Ill./Immaculate Heart of Mary) 51st at 26:01.87, Liz Lanning (So., St. Charles, Ill./North) 62nd at 27:03.75 and Ashley Johnson (Sr., Romeoville, Ill.) 68th at 28:24.85.

The Lady Reds finished 15th at the 2007 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis.  Washington University (Mo.) won the 37-team championship event with 41 points, followed by Wisconsin-Eau Claire second at 87, Wisconsin-Platteville third at 99, Wisconsin-La Crosse fourth at 113, Wisconsin-Oshkosh fifth at 221, Wisconsin-Stevens Point sixth at 223, CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill.) seventh at 232, conference-member North Central College eighth at 269, Wisconsin-River Falls ninth at 302, Wisconsin-Whitewater 10th at 325, CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill.) 11th at 345, Carroll College (Wis.) 12th at 389, CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University 13th at 435, the University of Chicago 14th at 445 and Carthage 15th with 467 points.

Karen Jackson earned all-regional honors with a 35th-place finish and a career-best time of 22:39.92.  Megan Johnson was 68th with a career-best time of  23:26.94, Molly Lawrence 98th at 23:53.82, Laura Pearson 130th at 24:25.22, and Julia Hiett finished 136th with a career-best time  24:32.64.  Also finishing for Carthage were Kathy Zbella 39th at 24:35.59 and Justine Petras 162nd at 25:07.52.

Carthage won the 2007 Wisconsin Private College Cross Country Championship at Concordia University (Wis.) in Mequon, Wis.  The Lady Reds won their seventh state title, all since 1993, with 47 points, followed by Beloit College second at 85, Concordia (Wis.) third at 107, Lawrence University fourth at 110, Ripon College fifth at 135, St. Norbert College sixth at 143, Wisconsin Lutheran College seventh at 169, the Milwaukee School of Engineering eighth at 208, Cardinal Stritch University ninth at 250, Alverno College 10th at 300, Maranatha Baptist Bible College 11th at 307, Edgewood College 12th at 318, Mount Mary College 13th at 371, Marian College (Wis.) 14th at 379, Silver Lake College 15th at 448 and Lakeland College 16th with 465 points.

Karen Jackson won the individual state title with a time of 18:55.10 in the 5K event.  The win was Jackson’s second in a row after claiming first place in the Oct. 6 Carthage Invitational.  Laura Pearson was fifth at 19:50.90, Megan Johnson seventh at 19:57.00, Molly Lawrence 12th at 20:19.20, and Justine Petras was 22nd at 20:50.20. 

2008 Season Outlook

Coach Stephanie Domin returns 16-of-27 letterwinners and her top-five runner from last years’ fifth-place CCIW Women’s Cross Country Championship team.  All-CCIW and all-regional honoree Karen Jackson (sixth in the CCIW, 35th at the regional) leads the returnees, which also include all-conference member Megan Johnson (12th in the CCIW, 68th at the regional), Laura Pearson (18th in the CCIW), Molly Lawrence (41st in the CCIW) and Julia Hiett (43rd in the CCIW). 

Also returning for the Lady Reds are Rosemary Adams (So., McHenry, Ill./Woodstock-Marian Central Catholic), Leah Coleman (Jr., Huntley, Ill.), Kaylyn Haberland (So., Appleton, Wis./West), Ashley Johnson (Sr., Romeoville, Ill.), Laura Kilen (Sr., Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott), Ellen Klahn (So., Montello, Wis./Princeton), Liz Lanning (So., St. Charles, Ill./North), Claren McLaughlin (So., Lodi, Wis.), Nicole Munce (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) and Ellen Zanis (Jr., St. Charles, Ill./North).

Leading newcomers include Katie Garringer (Fr., Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), Katie Schmidt (Fr., Lemont, Ill., 10th place in the Illinois High School Association Class 2A sectionals), Lauren Sible (Fr., Oregon, Ill./Byron, all-state her senior year with a 15th-place finish at the Illinois High School Association Class 1A state championship) and Morgan Wiechmann (Fr., Sleepy Hollow, Ill./Carpentersville—Dundee-Crown, four-time All-Fox Valley Conference).

Carthage will run in five regular-season meets in 2008, including the Aurora University “Spartan Classic,” the Concordia University (Wis.) Invitational, the Augustana College (Ill.) “Brissman-Lundeen Invitational,” the Carthage Invitational and the Wisconsin Private College Championship.