MIAC Championship Preview
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg women's cross country team is looking to make small strides up the ladder at the 2009 MIAC Championships, having not cracked the top half of the conference standings the past three seasons.
The Auggies have seen improvement this year, with three of seven runners recording personal best times on Oct. 17. And while coach Dennis Barker said he is pleased with the improvement he has seen, he admits team-wise, it may be tough to make a marked jump in the conference this year.
“The MIAC on the women's side is very tough,” he said. “We have a half-dozen teams ranked nationally, and we aren't as strong as these teams. But we are running closer to some teams than we were at the beginning of the year, and maybe we can surprise somebody.”
Augsburg has just one senior runner in Jennifer Lovering (Bemidji, Minn.), and hopes are high for her to continue to do well individually. Lovering has been the team's lead runner by at least 2:50 all season long, and placed as high as 29th in the St. Olaf Invitational. Her career best time is 23:25.27 in the 6K race. Lovering is a junior in terms of eligibility, but plans to graduate in the spring.
“We're hoping Jenny can make All-Conference, improving from her honorable mention last year,” Barker said. “She's been our top runner every year she's been here; it would be nice for her to go out with a big race in the conference championships.”
The rest of the team consists of sophomores and new members on the team, looking to gain experience for upcoming years. Returners Jennifer Pulscher (SO, Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty HS) and Kacie Bahr (SO, Brainerd, Minn.) have consistently run below the twenty-nine minute mark all season long, becoming the steady second and third runners on the team.
Newcomers Adrienne Young (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS), Erika Coe (FY, Roseville, Minn.), Stacia Francis (SR, St. Cloud, Minn.) and Phoebe Novitsky (SO, Coon Rapids, Minn./Concordia Academy HS) will all be looking to set season-best times as they help the Auggies to improvement in 2009.
