2000 Cross Country Review
Posted 11/19/00
Pioneers are 10th in the country
UW-Platteville concluded its best cross country season ever by placing 10th at the NCAA Division III national championships Saturday at Whitworth (Wash.) College.
Calvin College won the meet with 65 points, followed by Keene State, 87; UW-Oshkosh, 138; North Central, 143; Williams, 173; UW-Whitewater, 183; UW-La Crosse, 203; Nebraska Wesleyan, 230; Haverford, 236; and UW-Platteville, 323. Twenty-four men's teams competed for the championship over the 8,000-meter course in Spokane.
The Pioneers' Justin Wells was the first UWP runner, placing 17th in 25:30.2. He just missed NCAA All-America status, although he and teammate Mike Schmitz earned Coaches Association All-America honors for placing in the top 35. Schmitz was 22nd in 25:38.5.
Other UWP runners who contributed to the top 10 finish were Tim Willcox, 89th in 26:30.03; Joe Marks, 96th in 26:36.8; Brian McIntyre, 99th in 26:39.3; Ryan Kleimenhagen, 114th in 26:51.5; and Corey Stelljas, 121st in 27:00.8.
Posted 11/14/00
For the first time, Pioneers run at nationals
For the first time in school history, the UW-Platteville men's cross country team will send its entire varsity squad to the NCAA Division III Championships, to be held Saturday at Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash.,
The team qualified for the meet after placing third at the Midwest Regional race Saturday.
North Central won the regional race with 72 points, one point ahead of UW-La Crosse. The Pioneers totalled 106. UW-Oshkosh scored 113 and UW-Whitewater 121 to also qualify their teams for the nationals.
The men's national championship race will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. PST (1 p.m. Central).
Senior Justin Wells (Waterloo, Wis.) ran the best race of his life to lead the Pioneers' efforts in regionals. Wells placed seventh overall with a personal-best time of 25 minutes and 11.5 seconds over the 8-kilometer course in Colfax, Wis.. Not far behind were seniors Mike Schmitz (Oak Creek) and Brian McIntyre (Darlington). Schmitz placed 15th with a time of 25:35.3 and McIntyre placed 20th with a time of 25:42.5. Both have competed in the national meet before, and are excited about bringing the rest of the team along this time.
Sophomores Corey Stelljes (Fall Creek/Altoona High School) and Joe Marks (Portage) rounded out the Pioneers' top five. Stelljes ran a smart race to finish 26th in a personal-best time of 25:47.2 while Marks finished 38th with a time of 26:00.1. Other varsity runners making the trip to Washington are seniors Tim Willcox (Green Bay/Southwest) and Mike Heling (Oneida/Pulaski).
"It's a very senior-oriented team," ninth-year Pioneer Coach Tom Antczak said. "They really focus on themselves as a team. They don't talk about which school is running well or what that runner is doing.
"This team, more than any other I have seen, runs a lot as a team. Nobody has been our single number one runner and nobody has been our single number two. I think that's been a big plus. If someone falters, someone else has been there to pick up the slack. I think that has been a real motivation for each meet."
The Pioneers faced steep competition at regionals, easily the most competitive in the entire country.
"I told them we were going to have to have five guys run 26:00 or better and dang if they didn't do it," Antczak said. "These guys have been uncanny in reaching their goals. This (the national meet) has been their opportunity to run that they have been waiting for for four years."
The coach said the Pioneers will go into this meet with the same mind-set as they have all their other meets.
"We have to ignore all the hoopla and keep focused on the task at hand," he said. "With seniors, that should be easier to do. I really think they will run well."
The trip to nationals caps an unbelievable month for Antczak. He was named WIAC Coach of the Year, inducted into the UW-La Crosse Hall of Fame and now takes the Pioneers to nationals for the first time.
"Every coach aspires to have a team go to nationals," he said. "To me personally as a coach, it confirms to me that we're heading in the right direction. The biggest thing I have helped them do is believe in themselves.
"Ultimately, and any coach will tell you this, is the athletes have to believe. They've had this goal since the end of last season. To be honest, at times I thought that might be too high, but we kept talking about setting goals and believing in them. After the Drews Race (6th out of 34 teams in a field that included Division I powers), we all saw what we can do. Since then, the sky has been the limit."
Posted 11/7/00
Pioneers compete at regionals
The UW-Platteville Pioneers are in NCAA III Regional competition Saturday in Colfax, Wis. For fastest results, click on the NCAA III Regionals Home Page.
Posted 10/28/00
Antczak named WIAC Coach of the Year
UW-Platteville cross country coach Tom Antczak was named Coach of the Year by his peers in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Antczak, in his ninth year at UW-Platteville, led the Pioneers to third place in the WIAC men's championship Oct. 28. The Pioneers are currently ranked eighth in NCAA Division III and head to the regional championships Saturday in Colfax, Wis.
Antczak received another honor the same day as the conference meet when he was inducted into the UW-La Crosse Hall of Fame. He was one of the most prolific distance runners in UW-L and WIAC history. Antczak placed fifth in the New York Marathon and 12th in the Boston Marathon and was a three-time Olympic trials qualifier.
Posted 10/28/00
Men finish 3rd; Honshel breaks 20 at WIAC meet
The UW-Platteville men's cross country team ran to an impressive third-place finish at the 2000 WIAC championships at UW-Whitewater Saturday, while Andrea Honshel's sub-20-minute time highlighted the women's efforts.
The Pioneers entered the men's meet ranked 13th in the country, but had four conference schools ranked ahead of them. Saturday, they trailed only champion UW-Oshkosh (51 points) and runner-up UW-La Crosse (57). The Pioneers tied UW-Whitewater with 86 points but won the tie-breaker of having better sixth and seventh runners.
Justin Wells turned in the 10th fastest time ever on the UWW 8K course, placing sixth in 25:27.8. Brian McIntyre (25:38.2) and Mike Schmitz (25:39.3) finished 12th and 13, respectively, to earn second-team all-conference honors.
The rest of the Pioneer men scorers were Corey Stelljes, 27th in 26:09.4; Joe Marks, 28th in 26:14.0; Tim Willcox, 34th in 26:22.7; and Mike Hehling, 43rd in 26:47.7.
Honshel smashed the 20-minute barrier for the first time, running 19:31.7 over 5,000 meters. She is just the 11th woman in Pioneer history to accomplish that feat. UWP was ninth in the team race, which was won by UW-Oshkosh.
Posted 10/19/00
Men ranked 15th in the country
by Keith Brumund-Smith
The Pioneer men's cross country team has moved up in the rankings...all the way up to 15th place. After being ranked 24th earlier in the year, they have proved that they belong among the elite cross country programs in the nation.
Leading the team during this excellent season has been senior Mike Schmitz, who is eager to get back to the national cross country meet after participating in the meet in 1998 but missing out last year. A group of seniors have been following behind Schmitz the whole season. Members of this group include Mike Heling, Justin Wells, Brian McIntyre and Tim Willcox.
Only 7 team members can run in the regional and national meets, and others fighting for one of these spots will be senior Ryan Zellner, sophomores Corey Stelljes and Joe Marks, and freshman Ryan Kleimenhagen.
Although they are ranked at 15th in the nation, making it to the national meet will not be easy. In the midwest region, only five teams will make it to the national meet. The Pioneers are currently ranked sixth among these teams. Four of these five teams ahead of them are WIAC schools, including UW-Whitewater (3rd), UW-Oshkosh (4th), UW-LaCrosse (5th), and UW-Stevens Point (10th). The other Midwest school ranked ahead of the Pioneers is North Central College in Naperville, IL, in 6th place.
The Pioneers know that these rankings mean nothing once they toe the line and the starting gun goes off, though. "It's nice to get some recognition to the program" said senior Ryan Zellner "but there's still a lot of work to be done."
With the WIAC meet coming up on October 28, the Pioneers will be able to face four of the teams that are standing in their way. Beating them at the conference meet will be a big confidence booster, but they all know that Regionals is when it really matters.
Posted 10/14/00
Pioneer men fare well against strong field
The UW-Platteville men's cross country team placed sixth among 34 teams in one of the strongest fields in the country Saturday at UW-La Crosse.
UW-Madison won the Jim Drews Maroon Race with 17 points, while the University of Iowa was second at 96. The host Eagles were third in 114 points, followed by UW-Oshkosh with 121, UW-Stevens Point with 176 and the Pioneers with 209.
The UWP junior varsity men also had a strong showing, finishing seventh among 17 teams in the Jim Drews Gray Race. The Pioneer women were 27th among 31 teams in the Tori Neubauer Maroon Race.
More than 300 runners competed in each of the Maroon Races, and 240 in the Gray Races.
Two Pioneer men broke the 26-minute barrier over 8,000 meters. Mike Schmitz finished in 25:37 to place 15th. Justin Wells broke 26 minutes for the second time in his career at 25:54, good for 24th place. Also contributing to the outstanding UWP race were Brian McIntyre, 35th in 26:10; Corey Stelljes, 64th in 26:37; Tim Willcox, 71st in 26:43; Luke Boehnlein, 145th in 27:37; and Ryan Zellner, 148th in 27:39.
Freshman Ryan Kleimenhagen raced to 27:14 to place 12th and lead the Pioneers in the Gray Race.
Andrea Honshel continued her quest to run a sub-20-minute 5K race when she crossed the finish line in 20.09. She was 90th in the Maroon Race, which was won by Luther College.
Posted 10/7/00
Honshel, Boehnlein lead Pioneers on new course
UW-Platteville debuted its new cross country course at Memorial Park Saturday, and Andrea Honshel and Luke Boehnlein led the hosts with fourth-place finishes in their respective races.
The women finished in second place in the triangular. Central (Iowa) won the meet with 23 points, while the Pioneers had 45 and Dubuque 65. Dubuque's Lisa Demerath was the individual champion in 19:04.
Honshel placed fourth in the 5,000-meter race in 20:33. Stacy Rahberger (21:41), Kara Wirth (21:47) and Erica Durtschi (21:49) were eighth, ninth and 10th.
Central won the men's meet with 31 points, while Augustana had 41, and the Pioneers scored 52. The top UWP varsity men ran Friday night at the Pre-Regional Meet in Colfax, and placed second among 19 teams.
Boehnlein led those who ran Saturday with a good race, finishing fourth in 28:12. John Duemler and B.J. Stock were ninth and 10th, respectively, crossing the finish line in 28:41 and 28:42. Central's Kevin Lindberg was the individual winner in 27:47 over 8,000 meters.
Posted 10/7/00
Pioneer men place second at pre-regional meet
On the course where the NCAA Division III cross country regionals will be run in November, UW-Platteville placed second among 19 teams Friday in Colfax, Wis.
UW-Whitewater won the Pre-Regional Meet with 24 points, while the Pioneers had 84. Among fellow conference schools, UW-Eau Claire was fifth with 108, UW-Oshkosh eighth with 218, UW-Stout ninth with 221, UW-River Falls 14th with 403, and UW-Sueprior 15th with 432.
Mike Schmitz battled for the lead throughtout the 8K race and finished sixth in 25:56. Mike Heling was 12th in 26:11; Justin Wells, 18th in 26:16; Tim Willcox, 23rd in 26:23; and Corey Stelljas, 28th in 26:30 to score for UWP.
Posted 10/3/00
Pioneers to christen new course
The UW-Platteville cross country teams will christen a new course Saturday, as they play host to the Pioneer Invitational.
The scenic course runs through Memorial Park, starting at the driving range behind the residence halls and winding through the nature trails. The course passes across the refurbished, historic bridge that connects the trails across the stream that runs through the park.
"It's nice to be able to run in front of a home crowd for a change, and I hope we'll get some specatators," Coach Tom Antczak. "This is the first course we've ever had on campus. We've run on the golf course before, but it's been five or six years since we've had a true home meet."
The women's race covers 5,000 meters, while the men go 8,000. The meets begin at 11 a.m.
Teams competing include University of Dubuque, Central College, Mount Mercy and the Augustana College junior varsity men's squad. The Pioneer men's JV team will also compete, as the varsity men will be running at UW-Eau Claire Friday to get a feel for the course the NCAA III Regionals will be run. The entire UWP women's team will compete on the home course Saturday.
Posted 9/26/00
Pioneer men win Warhawk Invite
by Keith Brumund-Smith
With a score of just 25 points, the Pioneer men's cross country squad won their first invitational of the year at the Warhawk Invite. Senior Mike Schmitz led the team and finished first in the race with a time of 26 minutes flat, 17 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, who just happened to be senior teammate Justin Wells. At trio of UWP runners came in close behind in 6th, 7th and 9th place. Senior Mike Heling led the trio with a time of 26:50, with sophomore Corey Stelljes right behind at 26:51, and senior Tim Willcox finishing in 26:53. Seniors Brian McIntyre and Ryan Zellner rounded out the varsity squad with times of 27:13 and 27:22, respectively.
For the third time this season, senior captain Andrea Honshel led the Pioneer women. She placed 13th overall with a time of 20:40. Other varsity finishers were junior Kara Wirth, 22nd in 21:25; junior Stacy Rahberger, 24th in 21:30; senior Erica Durtschi, 27th in 21:42; sophomore Anne Lucas, 33rd in 21:59; senior Deb Schutte, 43rd in 22:30; and freshman Carla Kegel, 45th in 22:45. The women placed fourth out of five teams with a score of 93.
Posted 9/18/00
UWP men start strong
By Keith Brumund-Smith
The UW-Platteville menžs cross country team saw its first action of the season at the Midwest Cross Country Championships hosted by UW-Parkside. The team placed sixth out of 34 total teams, improving upon their 12th place finish from last season's meet.
The top runner for the Pioneers was senior Mike Schmitz, who had an amazing race, crossing the finish line in ninth place out of the 395 runners who competed. His time of 25:33 over the 8-kilometer course is well ahead of where he was at this point last year. Schmitz qualified for the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in 1998.
Senior Mike Heling crossed the line in 26:52 to be the second runner for the senior-strong Pioneers. Fellow seniors Brian McIntyre, Justin Wells and Tim Willcox followed closely behind him with times of 27:05, 27:07 and 27:11, respectively. All of the top five finished in the top 65 among collegiate runners in the race. Other varsity runners were freshman Ryan Kleimenhagen, who finished 136th in 27:48, and senior Ryan Zellner, who finished 156th in 28:03.
Senior Andrea Honshel led the womenžs team, placing 91st of 322 runners with a time of 20:27 over the 5-kilometer course. Other varsity runners were freshman Carla Kegel, who came in 124th with a time of 20:53; Stacy Rahberger, 161st in 21:22; Anne Lucas, 188th in 21:45; Kara Wirth, 190th in 21:47; Deb Schutte, 199th in 21:56, and Dana Manthei. 262nd in 23:12. All runners improved upon their performances from last weekend. Overall, the team placed 21st of 30.
Posted 9/9/00
CC has first action
The UW-Platteville women's cross country team saw its first action of the year, placing eighth in the Luther College All-America Meet Saturday in Decorah, Iowa.
Andrea Honshel was the first Pioneer to cross the finish line, placing 43rd in 21:04. Carla Kegley was close behind at 21:25, good for 50th.
Also placing for the Pioneers were Stacy Rahberger, 70th in 22:44; Deb Schutte, 73rd in 23:05; Kara Wirtth, 74th in 23:16; Anne Lucas, 78th in 24:06; and Dana Manthei, 85th in 26:59.