Oct. 8, 2005

Wolf shines for Dutch in Illinois

EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.—Adam Wolf placed 25th in a strong field of men’s competition and Jill Rozendaal (senior, Grinnell, Lynnville-Sully HS) was 11th in the women’s race as the Central College men’s and women’s cross country teams had another solid day at the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Border War Invitational Saturday.

The Dutch men’s team placed 15th in a 29-team field of top Division II and III opposition.  DePauw (Ind.) placed first, followed by Truman State (Mo.).

“We were shooting for a top-10 finish,” said head coach Jeff Bovee.  “Although we didn’t get that, there were very good teams at the meet and I was pleased with how we did.  We’re continuing to work on our packing and developing more frontrunners.”

Meanwhile the Dutch women were ninth in a 22-team field.

Wolf finished in  26:28 on the 8,000-meter men’s race.

"Adam (Wolf) had another solid performance today,” Bovee said.  “He’s continuing to get better and is one of the great leaders on our team.”

Joe Jefferson (junior, Decorah) placed 84th (27:26), Mike McLaughlin (Fort Dodge, St. Edmond HS) was 87th (27:27), Bryan George was 90th (27:29), T.J. Weiler was 107th (27:40), Brett Jones (junior, Knoxville), was 122nd (27:49), Brian Respeliers (junior, Council Bluffs, St. Albert HS) placed 130th (27:54).

Several other Central runners competed as at-large entrants. Jaron Byrum (Mount Union, New London HS) was 161st (28:28), James Armstead (Nodaway Valley), was 177th (28:45), Tyler Schipper (Ankeny HS) was 197th  (29:07), Eric Sink (Corning HS) was 199th (29:09), Teddy Clark (Montgomery, Ill.) placed 200th (29:09), Alex Billings (Dallas Center-Grimes) was 227th (30:00), Jason Mullen (Corning HS) placed 229th (30:08) and Andy Green (Pella HS) was 245th (30:29).

Rozendaal runs career best for women-- Jill Rozendaal (senior, Grinnell, Lynville-Sully HS) placed 11th in 18:45, a career best for a 5,000-meter race.

“We were hoping for a top-10 finish and we accomplished that in a good field of competition,” said Bovee.  “Everyone ran a good race and we’ve continued to be consistent as a team every weekend.”

Washington (Mo.), the top-ranked women’s team in the NCAA Division III, was the winner with 78 points while Central had 276.

Nicki Thomas (freshman, Omaha, Neb., Millard North HS) placed 65th (20:03), Heidi Rathje (senior, Atkins, Benton HS), Mackenzie Lauman (Shenandoah, Shenandoah-Essex HS) was 101st (20:40), Jessica Clark (freshman, Port Byron, Ill. Riverdale HS) placed 115th (20:59), Amanda Wood (senior, Pocahontas, Pocahontas Area HS) was 131st (21:28) and Amy Boesenberg (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Alburnett HS) was 151st (21:59). Also running for the Dutch was Hannah Anderson (freshman, Goodell, Garner-Hayfield HS), who was 164th (22:16).

“Nicki (Thomas) had been sick all week, but sucked it up and ran well,” Bovee said. “Heidi (Rathje) and Amanda (Wood) also ran tough today.”

Next Saturday the Dutch will see more top foes at the Jim Drews Invitational at Wis.-La Crosse.