NELSON, VANDERGRIFF TO LEAD 1998 MONMOUTH CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
The 1998 Monmouth College cross country season opens this weekend at the Elmhurst Invitational with some unanswered questions. Both men's and women's squads lost several key runners to graduation and the returning athletes must be ready to fill their shoes to continue the success of recent seasons.
Coach Chris Pio led his men's team to a third-place finish last fall at the MWC Conference Championship meet after the program won its first league title in 1996. The Fighting Scots relinquished their title to Grinnell and were nipped for second by Knox by one point. In the women's division Monmouth placed fourth in the ten-team field, only five points out of third, as Carroll won its second straight MWC crown. However the graduation of a talented senior class and a small freshman group will mean a big difference in the makeup of the 1998 teams.
The men's squad returns one All-Conference runner in junior Jamie Nelson (Monmouth, IL/Monmouth), who has finished in the top ten both seasons. Nelson ran 6th at last year's conference meet after placing 9th as a freshman. Sophomore Tony Miles (Moline,IL/Moline) just missed All-Conference honors by finishing in 17th place and enjoyed a solid rookie season. The pair will be counted on to provide a strong 1-2 punch up front for the Scots and should be the team leaders. They will be joined in the scoring pack by returning letterwinners Clint LaFary (Green Valley,IL/Delavan) and Ken Williams (Edwardsville,IL/Edwardsville). Freshman Charlie Sunderlage (Burlington,IL/Burlington Central) and junior Derek Cisel (Elmwood,IL/Elmwood) will also try to break into the men's front five.
The women's team was hit hard by graduation but also returns an All-Conference runner from the 1997 season. Senior Gretchen Vandergriff (Wolcott,IN/Greenwood) was the team's second runner at the MWC Championships and placed 12th overall in earning her first all-league honor in cross country. She was the squad's lead runner in several invitational meets and is the top returning veteran on the women's side. Vandergriff established a new MWC indoor track record last March in winning the 600-meter run, her second individual conference championship on the track. Juniors Ann Moody (Yates City,IL/Farmington) (19th at the MWC meet as a freshman), Dara Pagel (Lincoln,IL/Lincoln) and Jennifer Hoffman (Orland Park,IL/Carl Sandburg) will form the bulk of the Scots' scoring pack as the team attempts to earn its fifth straight top-four Midwest Conference Meet finish.
Monmouth will host the Division III Illinois State Meet on Saturday, October 24th on their home course at Monmouth Park and the MWC Championship Meet is scheduled for November 7th at Beloit College.