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News
MVNU Cross Country Teams Ready to Toe the
Starting Line
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (9-1-2011) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University men's and women's
cross country teams will wrap up their
preseason and get ready to start the 2011
season on September 1 when both teams take
part in the Kenyon College 4K/5K Meet with
the women's race to start at 6:30 p.m. and
the men's race to follow at 7 p.m.
"We are beginning this season with many
questions to be answered about who will step
up and fill our varsity slots," said MVNU
coach Chip Wilson, who enters his sixth
season leading the teams. "We have many new
faces this season, and it has been fun
watching our runners compete for positioning
on the team. There are talented young
runners on both the men's and women's teams,
and I am anxious to watch this team in
action to see what happens."
The MVNU
women's cross country team made tremendous
strides last year that included the
program's highest finishes in both the
American Mideast Conference Meet (sixth) and
the National Christian College Athletic
Association National Meet (13th). The Lady
Cougars lost their top two performers from a
year ago, but they return four experienced
runners and will be joined by eight talented
newcomers. Senior Caitlin Edwards (20:31),
junior Melissa Kaiser (21:54), and
sophomores Alex Reasoner (20:46) and Katie
Worthington (24:05) will lead the way, while
junior transfer Ashley Mast, junior Brittany
Richter, sophomores Lindsey Minor and
Kathleen Finley, and freshmen Sarah Mast,
Lincoln Green, Naomi Wall, and Rebecca
Haught, who give MVNU a solid recruiting
class.
"We have many holes to fill on
the women's side after losing our top two
runners from last season, but I am
encouraged by the effort I have seen from
all the girls," said Wilson. "Even with the
talent lost from last year, I believe this
team has the most potential from top to
bottom of any women's team I have coached at
MVNU. We do have lots of new faces, but they
are all hard-working girls. It has been fun
watching them run together and push each
other in practice. My hope is that this will
carry over in competition."
On the
men's side, the Cougars return eight of the
10 runners from last year's roster. Senior
Nate Winters (26:52) will lead the way and
looks to finish his stellar four-year career
in fine fashion, while senior Kevin Poast
(29:25), juniors Anthony Lee
(30:23), Jacob Pessia (30:00), and Mark
Rednour (31:17) and sophomores Jace Wolford
(27:44), Sebastian Rue (29:18), and Mitch
McKenzie (31:40) will all push him. Senior
Chad Lawver and freshmen C.J. Larue and
Chris Rednour will also add to the depth of
the team.
"We lost a good runner and
a solid leader in (four-year senior) David
Clark from last year's men's team, and his
personality has been missed by the guys,"
said Wilson. "However, our seniors this
season have gladly taken control of the team
and have done well in making an impact on
our young runners. We do have many veteran
runners this season on the men's team who
have wisdom to share about the way we
operate as a team and the expectations of
the season. This has been a tremendous help
for me in starting this new season."
Following the Kenyon Meet to close out the
preseason, MVNU will compete in five
regular-season events. The schedule includes
the Ohio Wesleyan University Invitational,
the Otterbein University Invitational, the
All-Ohio Invitational (at Cedarville
University), the Wilmington College
Invitational, and the NAIA Great Lakes
Classic (hosted by Aquinas College). The
teams will also compete in the Mid-Central
College Conference Championship (at Goshen
College) for the first time and will take
part in the NCCAA National Championship (at
Cedarville).
"I can already tell that
this is going to be a memorable season with
this group that I am blessed to coach," said
Wilson. "We are having fun, and the mixture
of personalities I see daily will make for a
great experience in our new league. We will
need to make some great strides as team to
be competitive in each race, but I believe
we are up for the challenge."
Cougars' 2011
schedule:
http://www.mvnu.edu/sports/nazcc/news/results_m.asp
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