Cross country ends up on top

by: Anthony loconsole
Guest Writer

The St. Ambrose University Fighting and Queen Bee cross country teams ran in the 2005 Midwest Classic Conference Championship on Saturday, Oct. 22 in Des Moines.

Overall the Queen Bees took home first place in the conference; Mount Mercy took second, William Penn third, Grand View fourth; and Ashford placed fifth.

Two Queen Bees were named to the 2005 Women’s Cross Country All-Conference Team: sophomore Ashley Alavrez and team captain junior Ashley Johnson. Both runners are from Galesburg, Ill.

The Fighting Bees took second overall in conference as Grand View took first, Mount Mercy third, William Penn fourth, and Ashford took fifth.

Junior Jeremy Esch was named to the 2005 Men’s Cross Country All-Conference.

Esch was edged out by Grand View’s Michael Stevens in the championship race. Stevens finished 12 seconds ahead of him.

After the conference meet both teams will travel to Jones Park in Cedar Rapids for the regional meet on Saturday.

Heading into the regional meet has SAU cross country coach Dan Zeimet feeling positive about how his teams will perform.

"We're ready for the meet. The women will build on their success of taking first at conference, and the men taking second feel they can do better and hope that they run their best at the regional." Zeimet said.

"We know the course very well and we hope to qualify as a team or at least be able to send a few individuals to nationals."

The regional holds special significance for the seniors on both teams as they hope to make it to nationals and graduate SAU as champions.

"Winning regional is our main goal," senior captain Ben Hall said. "We are capable of winning if we run our best. I’ve been fortunate to serve as a captain this year and to help motivate my teammates and encourage everyone to run their best."

The 2005 NAIA Regional VII Championship is slated for Saturday and starts at 11am at Jones Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.