The seasons for the men’s and women’s cross-country teams came to an abrupt end this past weekend with 14th-place finishes in their NCAA Division III Regional Meet this past weekend. The placings were not good enough to qualify either team for the NCAA Championships.

Tara Kilburg lead the Duhawk women this season.

In the Regional meet at Grinnell, IA, junior Tara Kilburg and sophomore Dan McDermott crossed the line first for their respective teams.

The women’s team ran into misfortune even before the race started. Senior Hannah Weiss, who has finished in the top two for Loras all season long, contracted the H1N1 virus and was not able to run. To add insult to injury, another top runner, first-year Maria Kalb, was not able to finish the race as a result of an asthma attack.

“Our women fell well short of what they were hoping for,” said Coach Bob Schultz. “Not having Hannah definitely hurt us, not just from a lost points standpoint, but I think, mentally, it was hard on the girls to go to the line without Hannah.

“Based on what we’ve done at Regionals the past couple years, we really thought we could have qualified,” Schultz continued. “When we lost Hannah, I think that took the wind out of our sails, but I know our girls still ran hard.”
In the men’s race, Schultz was particularly proud of four runners who ran even better times than in the Iowa Conference Championships.

“I was happy with our front four,” he said. “Our best time this season was 27:13, and we had all four guys break 27 minutes. Most of them moved up from where they finished at conference. We were the most improved team in the region from the beginning of the season, so I really couldn’t ask for much more from those guys.”
McDermott finished 64th to lead the way for the men, just edging out teammate senior Tyler Meyer, who finished in 68th.

“I was hoping for a higher finish for our top guys,” Schultz said. “I think, like the women, they knew they were running their last race, where last year, they were running to qualify for Nationals, which they provisionally did with their fitth-place finish. They had less at stake than last year.

Runners start the race earlier this season at the Dr. Tucker Invite hosted by Loras.

“I knew Dan McDermott was capable of such a performance, but he didn’t have the greatest summer,” he continued. “If he has the kind of summer that some of the elite college guys have, not only is he an All-Region runner, but he is one of the best in the nation.” Schultz will be sad to see his seniors go.

“Wow, words cannot describe what a pleasure it has been working with this group,” he said. “They are my first full recruiting class and I will miss them dearly. They are a special group of people that have grown so much as runners, but even more importantly, as people.”

It is never too early to start talking about next season in Schultz’s mind, even though he has a busy schedule in front of him with the upcoming track season. He also is pursuing new runners to replace the great ones leaving after graduation.

He was eager to emphasize that the runners who participate in track will be making it a lot easier on themselves for when that 2010 season comes around again, setting them up for success on the track.

Schultz already is eager to see what his team could possibly do next season with the young talent staying around.

“The women lose two runners in seniors Erica Stevens and Hannah Weiss,” he said. “The men lose senior Tyler Meyer, who has been a consistent top-three guy for us and No. 1 at times. We also lose a great captain and eighth man in senior Dan Murphy.

“On the women’s side, it’s a senior-dominated conference, and schools like Wartburg, Simpson and Central will lose a lot of good pieces from their teams,” Schultz continued. “On paper, I would say we are No. 2 to Luther next year.

The men will not be so lucky.

“For the men, it’s a pretty young conference, so we have our work cut out for us, but I know if our guys have strong track seasons and a great summer, we can be back among the top two in the conference and make a run for a trip to the National Championships,” Schultz added.