WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcats won the MIAA Championship today, as the men's team finished first at the event hosted by Central Missouri.
SBU finished first with a point total of 63, followed by Pittsburg State with 84, and Missouri Southern with 86.
SBU's Shawn Etzenhouser ran a 25:46.23 to finish in 4th place. Jeremy Glassmaker finished in 7th place (25:52.78) and Michael McCampbell was right behind him in 8th (26:02.02). These three runners, by virtue of their 'top ten' finish, were named first-team All-MIAA athletes.
The SBU women finished in third place with 83 points. Missouri Southern won the women's meet with 42 points, followed by Pittsburg state with 72 points.
They were led by Courtney Ayers, who finished 3rd (22:57.05), which claimed her an All-MIAA award. Chelsea Strahm finished in 10th place, to also earn an All-MIAA award, with a time of 23:24.63.
“First in school history but hopefully there are many more to come.” A quote by Coach McElhaney after learning his Men’s Cross Country team won the MIAA Conference Championships. His men’s team came into the season ranked 2nd and maintained a 3rd place ranking throughout the season. That is until now, the men claimed first by placing 3 runners in the top 8 and their 4th and 5th runners in the top 27. Leading the way was Junior Shawn Etzenhouser’s 4th place finish (25:46). Following close behind him were juniors Jeremy Glassmaker (25:52) and Michael McCampbell’s (26:02) 7th and 8th place finishes. Freshman Will Hansen ran a personal best (26:22) to claim 17th place and rounding out the top 5 was Josh Rollins' (26:50) 27th place finish.
Coach McElhaney “I am so proud of our team today, we all believed we could do it and we finally followed through. It was awesome seeing our guys come together and run as a team. God has truly blessed me with a great team on and off the course. We now have to get focused for Regional’s in two weeks. I also want to say thanks to everyone who came and supported the teams, I can honestly say we had the loudest crowd there.”
Place Name Time
4th Shawn Etzenhouser 25:46
7th Jeremy Glassmaker 25:52
8th Michael McCampbell 26:02
17th Will Hansen 26:22
27th Josh Rollins 26:50
29th Cameron Ayers 26:59
37th David Hackney 27:13
51st Vince Tichenor 27:42
62nd Andrew Bly 28:29
Top Four Team Placing
Southwest Baptist 63 points
Pittsburg State 84 points
Missouri Southern 86 points
Fort Hays State 96 points
Full Results: http://www.themiaa.com/MIAAstatsMCrossCountry.asp
SBU Women place 3rd at the MIAA Championships. The women came into the season ranked 3rd and that is where they finished. SBU finished behind MSSU and Pit State with their 83 points. MSSU and Pit State are both ranked in the top 25 nationally. Coach McElhaney “I know our ladies had the #2 spot in their eyes but came up a little short. I am still very proud of their efforts today; we have been in the top three in all of the past three years. That is something to be said about our ladies and how hard they work, especially in a conference as tough as the MIAA. The team really ran together today and pushed each other, I have a great group who are willing to work hard, and hopefully that will pay off in 2 weeks as we are currently ranked 5th and the top 3 teams go to Nationals.”
Leading SBU was Courtney Ayers (22:57) 3rd place finish which ties Amy Broadhurst for the highest finish at the MIAA Champs by a SBU Bearcat. Following close to here was Junior Chelsea Strahm (23:24) and her 10th place finish. Rounding out the top five was Erica Whitfield (24:05) 21st, Kristen Colon (24:16) 24th, and Rebecca Brigance (24:18) 25th.
Place Name Time
3rd Courtney Ayers 22:57
10th Chelsea Strahm 23:24
21st Erica Whitfield 24:05
24th Kristen Colon 24:16
25th Rebecca Brigance 24:18
40th Camrie Nixon 24:46
43rd Holly Hackney 24:57
45th Andrea Owensby 25:02
57th Melanie McVay 25:35
63rd Christine Pierce 25:51
Top 4 Team placing
Missouri Southern 42 points
Pittsburg State 72 points
Southwest Baptist 83 points
Truman State 109 points
Full Results: http://www.themiaa.com/MIAAstatsWCrossCountry.asp
