Cross Country News - 2008-09

Fall 2008 Athletic Director Honor Roll Announced

Feb. 4, 2009

St. Ambrose Athletic Director Ray Shovlain announced today members of the Fall 2008 Athletic Director Honor Roll. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must have had a minimum 3.0 grade-point average in the fall semester.

There were 306 total Fighting Bee student-athletes named to the honor roll. Of the group, 138 had GPAs between 3.0-3.49, 131 had GPAs between 3.5-3.99 and 37 had 4.0 GPAs.

Men’s Cross Country
Douglas Brusich
John Darmody
Austin Quinn
Keith Randle
Shane Shemek
Nicholas Villareal

Women’s Cross Country
Brooke Ashcraft
Sloan Felten
Cassidy Foltz
Holly Gruenke
Sarah Jacob
Victoria Klaas
Katelynn Krahn
Jayne Lovdahl
Brianna Love
Dana Maier
Lauren Melik
Teresa Popp
Megan Reeh
Casey Sullivan
Elizabeth Swanson
Kristen Syring
Amanda Trossen
Cassandra Young

Two new Bees make marks right away - Central Dutch Invite

Sept. 9, 2008

u Two St. Ambrose newcomers already put the names in the record books for running two of the fastest times in school history. Former UT prep Brooke Ashcraft led the Fighting Bee women attack with a 13th place finish at the Central Dutch Invite in 19:48, making her the ninth fastest Bee in school history. Former Rock Island prep Megan Reeh was right behind Ashcraft running 19:53, making her the 12th fastest Bee. There was less than a minute between the Bees first and fifth runners, as they finished fifth out of 11 teams on the hilly Central course.

u Freshman John Darmody led the Fighting Bee men in the first meet of the season, as only 73 seconds separated the first Bee from the fifth. The Bees finished seventh as a team in the 13 team meet, with former Alleman prep Shane Shemek running in the third spot and former PV prep Jake Barker finishing fifth for the Bees.

Fighting Bees Ranked 40th to Start the 2008 Cross Country Season

Aug. 25, 2008

In the first poll of the season released by the NAIA, the St. Ambrose men’s cross country team received one vote and is ranked 40th. This will be the first season the NAIA uses the conference championship as a national qualifier, with the conference champion automatically getting a bid to the NAIA National Championships.

“It’s a good way to start the year, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” SAU head coach Dan Zeimet said. “Hopefully these men can continue the tradition of excellence in the St. Ambrose cross country program.”

The Fighting Bee men have won the Midwest Collegiate Conference championship each of the past two seasons, and 12 times in the conference’s 18-year history.

Malone College in Ohio received all 15 1st-place votes and enters the season as the top-ranked team.

John Darmody Places 3rd at USATF Junior Olympics National Championships

July 28, 2008

St. Ambrose University incoming freshman John Darmody finished third in the 1500-meter run at the USATF Junior Olympics National Championships recently. He ran a lifetime best time of 4:03.17 in the event. It was one of two top-10 finishes for Darmody.

"We knew John would be somebody that could come in and have an immediate impact," SAU track and field coach Dan Tomlin said. "Now he's shown he can run with the top athletes in the country. It's the kind of experience that is invaluable, and will raise expectations for not only him but the rest of the team as well."

Darmody, from Seattle, Wash., also took ninth place at the Junior Olympics National Championships in the 5000-meter run with a time of 16:08.32. He will compete for both the Fighting Bees track and cross country teams.

"It's a good springboard for John into the cross country season," Tomlin said. "He's been improving by leaps and bounds over the past few months."

Darmody was named to the Seattle Post All-Metro first team and the Seattle Times All-Metro first team while at O'Dea High School.

This past season, SAU sophomore Cliff Miles set the Midwest Collegiate Conference record in the 1500-meter run with 4:07.10 as the Bees won their seventh Midwest Collegiate Conference Outdoor Championship.