SEAWOLVES 12TH: Top four runners finish within 16 seconds of each other.
Members of the UAA men's cross-country running team aren't jaded, but the novelty of running among the country's best has certainly worn off.
No longer is it swell for the Seawolves to find themselves ranked among the country's best teams. No longer is it simply cool for the Seawolves to compete in the NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships.
The Seawolves believe they belong there, and Saturday, they proved it.
The Seawolves finished 12th in Saturday's nationals at Ashland University in Ohio, just one year after finishing 16th in the team's first-ever visit to nationals. The team entered the event ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Division II poll.
The Seawolves finished with 358 points, one less than Kennesaw State of Georgia. Western State of Colorado swept the men's and women's events, posting four top-10 finishes and 35 team points in its men's victory.
UAA's top four runners finished within 16 seconds of one another and the top five were barely more than a minute apart in the 10-kilometer men's event.
"I can't get those guys to get that close together in a warm-up," UAA coach Michael Friess joked Saturday afternoon. "It truly was a team effort and it actually should have been that way. All year long it's been about team. It's only fitting they really ran like a team. It was their best team effort all year."
Junior Eric Strabel had his best performance of the season, topping the Seawolves for the first time and finishing 55th with a time of 33 minutes, 2.6 seconds. Senior Sean Rivers placed 56th, a hair behind Strabel at 33:03.7.
"Eric was really centered and ready to roll today," Friess said. "He came by me at 3-K and gave me a big thumbs up. He just proceeded through the rest of the race, passing people left and right."
Senior Andy Elvester finished 67th (33:15.5) followed by junior Toby
Schwoerer in 71st (33:18.8) and junior Todd List in 109th (34:03.8). Junior Nate Normandin (126th in 34:33.3) and sophomore Chris Cannon (137th in 34:55.2) were nonscorers for UAA.
List was a pleasant surprise for the Seawolves -- well, not really a surprise.
"Our fifth, sixth and seventh men have all roomed together the last three trips," Friess said. "And the person who got the roll-away (bed) on each trip was always the fifth guy to come up big. Todd said 'I'm taking the roll-away this time,' and sure enough, he came up big at the national championship."
Seward's Aubrey Smith also pitched in for her team. Her 34th place finish in the women's 6-K helped Northern Michigan take fourth.
NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships
Saturday's results from Ashland University in Ohio
Men's team results
1) Western St. (Colo.) 35 points; 2) Abilene Christian (Texas) 81; 3) Adams St. (Colo.) 131; 4) South Dakota St. 144; 5) Calif. St. Chico 154; 6) Univ. Mass-Lowell 206; 7) Missouri Southern St. 265; 8) Calif. Davis 282; 9) Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 283; 10) Fort Hays St. 327; 11) Hillside Col. (Mich.) 332; 12) UAA 358; 13) Kennesaw St. (Ga.) 359; 14) tie, Truman St. (Mo.) and Harding Univ. (Ariz.) 367; 16) South Dakota 377; 17) Edinboro Univ. (Pa.) 409; 18) Millersville Univ. (Pa.) 475; 19) Univ. Northern Fla. 481; 20) Shippensburg Univ. (Pa.) 495; 21) Central Mo. St. 533; 22) Bentley Col. (Mass.) 554; 23) Mars Hill (N.C.) 656; 24) Pfeiffer Univ. (N.C.) 785.
Top 10 finishers (10-kilometers)
1) Alfred Rugema, Abilene Christian, 30 minutes, 43.7 seconds; 2) Nick Cordes, Ashland, 30:46.5; 3) Zepherinus Joseph, North Fla., 30:51.0; 4) William Banks, Western State, 31:04.1; 5) Cele Rodriguez, Adams St., 31:04.6; 6) Rubin McRae, Western State, 31:14.7; 7) Paul Kezes, Western Wash., 31:16.7; 8) Josh Eberly, Western State, 31:30.5; 9) Bernard Manirakiza, Abilene Christian, 31:33.0; 10) Chris Sierners, Western State, 31:33.3.
UAA finishers
55) Eric Strabel 33:02.6; 56) Sean Rivers 33:03.7; 67) Andy Elvester 33:15.5; 71) Tobias Schwoerer 33:18.8; 109) Todd List 34:03.8; 126) Nate Normandin 34:33.3; 137) Chris Cannon 34:55.2.
Women's team results
1) Western St. (Colo.) 43; 2) Adams St. (Colo.) 46; 3) Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 97; 4) Northern Mich. 129; 5) Cal. St. Chico 241; 6) North Fla. 248; 7) South Dakota St. 249; 8) Kennesaw St. (Ga.) 255; 9) Wayne St. (Mich.) 274; 10) Cal. Davis 287; 11) Colo.-Colo. Springs 291; 12) Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania 292; 13) Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 315; 14) Southern Indiana 346; 15) Wis.-Parkside 369; 16) Neb. at Omaha 400; 17) tie, Calif. San Diego and Edinboro Univ. (Pa.) 421; 19) Central Ma. St. 469; 20) Clarion (Pa.) 504; 21) Adelphi (N.Y.) 606; 22) Stonehill (Ma.) 612; 23) tie, Mars Hill (N.C.) and Carson-Newman (Tenn.) 714.
Top 10 finishers (6-kilometers)
1) Amber Klein, Adams St., 20:54.5; 2) Zoila Gomez, Adams St., 21:09.2; 3) Rebekah Mackie, Western St., 21:28.6; 4) Alisha Williams, Western St., 21:37.9; 5) Hannah Lawrence, Western St., 21:40.1; 6) Miranda Ernst, N. Colo., 21:56.1; 7) Marjo Venalainen, Kennesaw St., 22:00.7; 8) Lisa Blomme, Western St., 22:03.5; 9) Kim Lorimer, Adams St., 22:07.0; 10) Annmarie Housen, Cal. St. Los Angeles, 22:17.9.
