2001 Cross Country Review
Posted 11/17/01
Kleimenhagen, Stelljes star at nationals
The UW-Platteville cross country duo of Ryan Kleimenhagen and Corey Stelljes ended their dominating season by both smashing the school record and earning all-America status during the NCAA Division III national championships Saturday Highland Springs Cross Country Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill.
Kleimenhagen, a sophomore from Oak Creek, placed ninth in the meet with a time of 24:32, bettering the school mark by 20 seconds. Shawn Flanagan set the old record of 24:52 in 1977, then Stelljes tied in last week at regionals. Stelljes followed that up by running 24:42 to place 17th overall and 14th in the team placings. Stelljes, a junior, is a graduate of Altoona.
The Pioneers placed 19th out of 24 teams who qualified for nationals. UW-La Crosse won the men's meet, while Middllebury won the women's national championship.
Kleimenhagen beat his own personal best by 24 seconds to place ninth. He was the third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runner to cross the finish line, trailing just two UW-La Crosse runners.
John Duemler (Sr., Bonduel) knocked 29 seconds off his best time, to place 91st in the team placings. Joe Marks (Portage) was 112th in 26:18, while Andy Tatar (Spring Green) was 148th in 27:07, Nick Meis (Platteville) 163rd in 27:49, and Luke Boehnlein, 156th in 27:27.
Five of the Pioneer runners who competed at nationals are juniors and Kleimeinhagen is a sophomore (Duemler is the lone senior), making the 2001 accomplishments even more impressive and has Coach Tom Antczak and the Pioneers already looking forward to 2002.
Posted 11/13/01
Pioneers head to nationals
UW-Platteville will compete at the NCAA Division III national cross country championships Saturday at the Highland Springs Cross Country Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill.
The Pioneers earned their second consecutive trip--the first two in school history--by finishing fifth in the Midwest Regional Saturday on the same course.
The Pioneers will look for more strong performances from all-region runners Corey Stelljes and Ryan Kleimenhagen as well as Joe Marks, John Duemler, Andy Tatar, Nick Meis and Luke Bohnlein. Jordan Williams is the alternate runner.
Coach Tom Antczak's crew is ranked 25th in the country.
Posted 11/10/01
Pioneer men qualify for nationals again
The UW-Platteville men's cross country team liked last year's initial trip to the NCAA Division III national championship, it decided to make a return trip.
The Pioneers finished fifth in the Midwest Regional Saturday at Highland Springs Cross Country Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill. to earn the berth in the national championships. UWP came into the meet ranked 25th in the country but seventh in the region. With only the top five teams in each region making the nationals, the Pioneers knew they had to run their best race. Behind all-region and record-setting performances by Corey Stelljes and Ryan Kleimenhagen, the Pioneers did just that.
Stelljes finished sixth and Kleimenhagen seventh, leading the Pioneers to fifth place. UW-La Crosse won the regional with 44 points, with UW-Oshkosh was second at 68, North Central 94, UW-Stevens Point 126 and UW-Platteville 222. The Pioneers just nipped UW-Whitewater with 226, Augustana with 230 and the University of Chicago with 233 for the last spot. Thirty-four teams competed in the regional meet.
Stelljes tied the school record by completing the 8,000 meters in 24:52. He shaved 23 seconds off his personal best to tie Shawn Flanagan's 1977 mark. Kleimenhagen's 24:56 is the next best run in UWP history behind Stelljes and Flanagan and was 20 seconds better than his previous fastest time. Stelljes, a junior, is a graduate of Altoona, and the sophomore Kleimenhagen is from Oak Creek.
The Pioneers also received strong performances from Joe Marks, 54th in 26:04; John Duemler, 70th in 26:33; and Andy Tatar, 85th in 26:51 to round out the team scoring. Nick Meis was 91st and Luke Bohnlein 95th to earn trips to the national championships, which will be next Saturday on the same Augustana course.
Although the women's team finished 24th of 33 teams, Amanda Troy turned in a stellar day. She completed the 5,000-meter course in 18:59, becoming just the third woman in Pioneer history to break the 19-minute barrier. She finished 35th overall in a strong race, won by UW-La Crosse. UW-Oshkosh, Washington U., and UW-Stevens Point also advanced to nationals.
Posted 10/27/01
Pioneers run to fifth in men's race
Led by two all-conference performers, the UW-Platteville men's cross country team placed fifth in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships Saturday in Eau Claire.
Corey Stelljes was ninth in 25:15, just ahead of teammate Ryan Kleimenhagen, who was 10th in 25:16. Both runners easily surpassed their best times of the year.
Joe Marks added a 40th-place finish in 26:18; Nick Meis was 47th in 26:39; and Luke Boehnlein 55th in 26;59 to round out the scoring.
UW-La Crosse edged UW-Oshkosh in both the men's and women's team championships.
The Pioneer women were eighth of the nine WIAC schools. Amanda Troy was the top UWP runner, crossing the line in 19:07 to place 20th. Stacy Rahberger added a 43rd-place finish in 20:03 to highlight the day.
Posted 10/19/01
Reserve runners are 5th
The reserve members of the UW-Platteville men's cross country team placed fifth in Loras College's Dr. Robert Tucker Invitational Friday.
The Pioneers, whose top 8 men and entire female team have the weekend free from competition, scored 101 points in the meet at the Bunker Hills Golf Course. The host Duhawks won with 37 points, while the Loras Alumni scored 46, Coe 83, William Penn 90, UWP 101 and Cornell 184. The University of Dubuque, the UWP Alumni and Clarke had runners compete but not enough for a team score.
Nick Stratman and Andy Tatar had top 20 finishes, at 19th (28:12) and 20th (28:15), respectively. Alumnus Tim Wilcox was third at 26:06 over the five-mile course.
The Pioneers are gearing up for next weekend's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, Saturday at UW-Eau Claire.
Posted 10/13/01
Men 12th of 33 teams; Women are 28th
The UW-Platteville men's cross country team placed 12th out of 33 teams in one of the Midwest's most competitive meets, the Jim Drews Maroon Invitational at UW-La Crosse.
The Wisconsin Badgers won the meet with 41 points, outdistancing the hosts, who had 90, and UW-Oshkosh, with 92. The Pioneers scored 375 and finished ahead of such schools as Wartburg, Carleton, St. Johns, UW-Stout, and the University of Iowa B team.
Junior Corey Stelljas led the strong Pioneer effort, playing 25th in 26:00. Ryan Kleimenhagen was 40th in 26:15, followed by Joe Marks, 71st, 26:48; John Duemler, 111th, 27:16; and Nick Meis, 128th in 27:34 to round out the scoring. The Pioneer second team was 16th out of 18 teams in the Gray Race.
The Pioneer women were 28th of 30 teams at the Tori Neubauer race. Amanda Troy turned in the best finish with a 42nd place in 19:42. Stacy Rahberger was next at 161 in 21:04, followed by Nelle Westphal, 182nd in 21:31; Tanya Ley, 188th in 21:44 and Becky Polzin, 189th in 22:22.
Pioneers host UW-Platteville Invitational
The UW-Platteville women's cross country team was second among seven teams, while the men were third of seven in the 2001 UW-Platteville Invitational Saturday at Memorial Park.
Wartburg captured both the men's and women's titles, scoring 24 to UWP's 69 in the female race. The Pioneer men scored 62 to finish behind Wartburg's 30 and the UWP Alumni's 48.A Pioneer alum captured the men's individual title, as Justin Wells finished the 8,000-meters in 26:31. Fellow alumns Tim Willcox (third in 26:57) and Mike Heling (eighth in 27:50) added top-10 finishes.
Nick Meis was the first Pioneer varsity runner, grabbing ninth place in 27:50. Jordan Williams also ran a strong race to place 13th in 28:21, while Autumn King was 15th, Nick Stratman 16th and John Duemler 17th.
Amanda Troy continued her fine season, placing third in the women's race at 19:56. Stacy Rahberger added a 15th-place finish at 21:11, while Carla Kegel was 17th in 21:14. Alumni Kim Mueller (fifth in 20:06) and Andrea Honshel (seventh in 20:19) were both in the top 10.
Posted 9/29/01
Pioneers 14th at Augustana
In an extremely competitive meet, the UW-Platteville men's cross country team placed 14th out of 32 teams Friday at the Augustana Invitational.
North Central edged Calvin for the team title, 87-90.
Three Pioneers finished in the top 35: Ryan Kleimenhagen, 24th at 25;32; Corey Stelljas, 26th at 25:36; and Joe Marks, 34th at 25:45. Luke Boehnlein (96th at 26:43) and Jordan Williams (104th at 26:50) rounded out the Pioneer scoring.
UW-Platteville will play host to its own invitational Saturday at Memorial Park. The women's race begins at 11 a.m., with the men's competition set for 11:45 a.m.
For complete results of Friday's meet, click here for Augustana's home page.
Posted 9/25/01
Troy is WIAC runner of the week
Amanda Troy earned Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week honors.Troy, a junior from Benton, placed seventh overall and third among all NCAA Division III runners at the Warhawk Invitational in Whitewater. She completed the 5,000-meter course in 19:34.
Posted 9/22/01
Pioneers seventh at Whitewater
Both the UW-Platteville men's and women's cross country teams finished seventh out of 10 schools at the UW-Whitewater Invitational Saturday.
The host Warhawks captured the men's title, while NCAA Division II UW-Parkside won the women's event.
Amanda Troy was seventh overall and third among all NCAA III runners, completing the 5,000 meters in 19:34. Stacy Rahberger was the next highest Pioneer runner, placing 57th in 21:25.30. Nelle Westphal was 69th in 21:40; Carla Kegel 71st in 21:43; and Becky Polzin 76th in 21:52 to round out the Pioneers' top five.
Nick Stratman (29:11) and Calem Oleskow (29:15) paced the men over 8,000 meters, placing 27th and 30th, respectively. Eric Kopp was 56th in 30:43; Ben Marx 61st in 30:58; and Nick Meis 69th in 31:23.
The Pioneers return to competitive action Friday at the Augustana Invitational.
Posted 9/15/01
Troy runs fourth fastest time
Amanda Troy ran the fourth-fastest time in UW-Platteville cross country history, highlighting the men's and women's first action of the year.
Troy, from Benton, completed the 5,000-meter course in 19:13. Her time placed her 34th in the highly competitive Midwest Collegiate Cross Country Championships, held on the UW-Parkside National Cross Country Course.
The Pioneers finished 18th of 28 teams in both the men's and women's races, although several UWP runners did not compete Saturday.
Karla Kegel was the women's next highest finisher, at 105 in 20:58. Ryan Kleimenhagen was the top men's finisher at 34th place in 26:19 over 8,000 meters.