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end of the road- Jennies' runners (from left) Danielle Nagel, Alison Kelley, and Sandy Davidson compete in the South Central Regional Saturday.

Bittersweet Ending

Mules advance to national meet; Jennies' season ends

By: Anne Carlson/ Muleskinner

Posted: 11/9/06

A third-place finish at the South Central Regional meet for UCM's men's cross country team has opened the door for an opportnity to compete in the NCAA D-II National Meet in Pensacola, Fla., Nov. 18. The Jennies, who also placed third, this weekend, missed qualifying.

This marks the 13th straight year the Mules have qualified for the national meet.

"We have always considered it to be a positive presser," Dennis Hill said. "We had twelve in a row, and we just wanted to keep that going. It's a confidence booster if anything."

"It's great to have qualified 13 years in a row," said head coach Kirk Pedersen. "It says a lot about the program and a lot about the athletes that have been here. I'm very proud of that coming from our program."

The men's team finished behind Abilene Christian with 18 points and Missouri Southern with 73 points. UCM scored 100 points.

"Everyone ran to the best of their ability and left it all on the course," Hill said. "You can't ask for anymore than that."

The Mules were led by All-Regional runners, Adam Akers, who placed 7th and ran the 10 km course in a time of 32:11.70, and Joe Mundt who finished 14th with a time of 32:39.70. To be an All-Regional runner one must place in the top 15 at the regional meet.

"Adam Akers and Joe Mundt have been our top runners all year," Hill said. "They took home some hardware, and that is always nice to see."

The Mules also had two other runners in the top 20. Hill finished 18th, with a time of 32:55.90, and David Fuchs was 19th in a time of 33:00.90.

"We had four guys in the top 20, and that was a staple for us," Hill said. "Without them, we wouldn't have qualified."
"The biggest highlight at this meet was seeing David Fuchs run the way he did," Pedersen said. "He couldn't make it into our top 10 last season, and now this year, he is scoring points for us at the region meet."

The Mules will finish their season in two weeks at the national meet.

"We haven't raced well at the national meet in recent years," Pedersen said. "So, hopefully, we can go in there relaxed. We are just going to go and try to beat teams that we have been trying to beat all year, like Missouri Southern."

The women's team also finished third but didn't qualify for the national meet because the south central region can only give two bids to nationals on the women side this season.

Placing ahead of the Jennies were Abilene Christian, scoring 71 points, and Pittsburg State with 99 points. UCM scored 125 points.

Like on the mens' side, the women also had two All-Region runners in Gina Kennison and Danielle Nagel. Kennison finished 8th, running the 6 km course in a time of 22:28.70. Nagel placed 12th and finished with a time of 22:42.30.

"Being named All-Region is a great feeling," Kennison said. "It was definitely a goal I had in mind and wanted to accomplish."
Another standout runner for the Jennies was Dani Wagaman who placed 17th and ran the course in a time of 22:58.20.

"Dani Wagaman ran the race of her career," Pedersen said. "She was in the top 20 and just missed being All-Region."

"We ran a great come-back race," Pedersen said. "We placed fourth at the conference meet and came back to beat two of those teams this weekend. We ran well on Saturday. We finished third, which should put us back in the top 25 in the nation even though we didn't make it to the national meet."