On Saturday Nov. 1, the St. Olaf men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the 2014 MIAC Championships at the Como Golf Course in St. Paul. Both teams performed strongly at the prestigious race, with the men winning the 11-team field and the women taking second of 12.
St. Olaf finished with an an astonishing 16 points – just the second time in MIAC history that a team has finished with that total. The score was just one point short of the conference record, which was set by University of St. Thomas and Macalester College.
The indefatigable champion, Grant Wintheiser ’15, won the men’s championship 8K with a time of 24:47. The victory was Wintheiser’s third straight MIAC individiaul title, making him just the second runner to achieve the three-peat in MIAC history. The Oles completed a near-sweep with second through fourth places being taken by Jake Campbell ’16, Jake Brown ’15 and Phil Meyer ’15, respectively. The men rounded up their top five with Paul Escher ’16 in sixth place with a time of 25:27.
Jamie Hoornaert ’17 was the first St. Olaf women’s finisher, taking 8th with a time of 22:40 for the 6K. The St. Olaf women also took 10th through 12th and 17th places to beat out University of St. Thomas. Carleton College won the women’s team competition under the leadership of Ruth Steinke ’17, who won in a time of 21:28.
St. Olaf will now look forward to the NCAA Division III Central Regional Championships, held in Pella, Iowa. Last season, the Oles won the event by a margin of ten points, beating out Central College for the top spot. Wintheiser will be looking to defend his title at the event.
Following the event, St. Olaf will turn its attention to the NCAA Division III Championships, where it will be looking to defend its historic national title.
thompsba@stolaf.edu
