Illinois Wesleyan 2005 Cross Country Stories

Contact: Stew Salowitz (309) 556-3206

Also see other stories at Cross Country Archives

November 19
Senior Melinda Sprague finished 33rd in the NCAA Division III women’s cross country championships, run on Sat., Nov. 19 at Dornoch Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. Sprague, who is the first IWU woman ever to qualify for the national meet, covered the 6K distance in 23:00.0. Sprague was 15th among those runners not competing with a full team. The individual winner was Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus in a time of 21:51.9 (eight seconds ahead of the second place finisher) and the team champion was Geneseo State (N.Y.), who placed three runners among the top 20 team scorers and five in the top 30 team scorers.

November 12
Senior Melinda Sprague became the first Illinois Wesleyan woman to qualify for the NCAA Division III national cross country meet with her 10th place finish at the regional, held at Peoria’s Detweiler Park on Sat., Nov. 12. Sprague’s 6K time of 21:50.2 was the fifth best among individuals whose teams didn’t make the finals, which will be held Sat., Nov. 19 at Dornoch Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. The Titan women’s team scored 404 points and finished 12th of 39 teams in the regional and the IWU men’s team had 733 points and was 25th of 34 with Matt Martin posting the lowest time for the men, 26:09.3, good for a 59th place finish. Washington U. won the women’s regional title with 76 points and Wisconsin-LaCrosse took the men’s crown with 42 points.

October 29
With 89 points, the Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished third in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships as senior Melinda Sprague finished second with a time of 21:52.2. Her second place finish is the lowest ever by an IWU runner in the league meet since CCIW competition began in 1990. IWU's Megan Byrne was eighth with a time of 22:25.3. The men's team finished seventh as Matt Martin placed 27th (25:49.1) and Lane Coonrod was 42nd (27:44.6). Wheaton won the women's event with 41 points and North Central won their 32nd straight men's meet with 45 points.

October 15
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished 15th of 22 teams while the men's squad was 21st of 23 at meets hosted by Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Sat., Oct. 15. Melinda Sprague was the women's low finisher in the Tori Neubauer Invitational, covering the course in 22:39.1 and placing 23rd. Megan Byrne was 82nd with a time of 23:46.8. In the men's Jim Drews Invitational, Matt Martin was 116th with his time of 26:29.1 while Lane Coonrod ran a time of 27:30.2 to finish 188th. Division I Wisconsin-Madison won the men's event and UW-LaCrosse won the women's event.

October 1
Senior Melinda Sprague was the individual winner and the Illinois Wesleyan University women’s cross country team finished second of 14 teams at the Beloit Old English Classic on Sat., Oct. 1. Sprague had a time of 19:50 to claim first place while Jennifer Nichols was 16th overall with her time of 21:09. The IWU women finished with 85 points, behind only UW-Stout with 37. The IWU men’s team was ninth of 13 as Matt Martin was 10th overall with a time of 27:32 and Lane Coonrod was 18th at 27:56. The IWU men had 210 points in the event won by North Central with 66.

September 23
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s cross country team finished ninth and the men’s team placed 20th at the Brissman-Lundeen meet hosted by Augustana at Credit Island Park in Davenport, Iowa on Fri., Sept. 23. Melinda Sprague finished 18th in the 6,000-meter women's race with a time of 22:40. Megan Byrne was 32nd and Jenny Nichols was 69th for the Titans, who totaled 283 points. Olivet Nazarene won with a 60. The IWU men had 584 points as Augustana won the meet with 59. Matt Martin was IWU’s low finisher at 48th with a time of 25:55 and Lane Coonrod was 75th (26:23) over the 8,000 meter course.

September 17
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s cross country team finished fourth of eight teams and the men’s team placed sixth of nine team running in the Eastern Illinois University Panther Open in Charleston on Sat., Sept. 17. The Titan women earned 107 points and trailed three Division I schools (Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and the host school). Melinda Sprague was ninth in the 5K race with a time of 19:20.66 and Megan Byrne was 19th with a speed of 19:57.91. Matt Martin was the top IWU male finisher in 24th place with a clocking of 27:25.02 in the 8K run and Lane Coonrod was 27th (27:40.20). The Titan men placed behind three Division I schools, a Division II school and Division III Millikin.

September 3
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s cross country team finished third of nine teams and the IWU men’s team ran to a tie for third of six squads at the Elmhurst Earlybird Invitational held on Sat., Sept. 3. For the women, Melinda Sprague covered the 3200 meter run in a time of 12:03.78 for a fourth place finish. The IWU women finished with 104 points as the U. of Chicago placed first with 30. The Titan men tied Cornell College with 82 points, behind overall winner Chicago with 17. Lane Coonrod paced the Titans with a ninth place finish in 16 minutes, 44.51 seconds.

September 2005
The 2005 Illinois Wesleyan cross country season will get underway at a meet on Sat., Sept. 3 at the Elmhurst Invitational. The Titans will be running for new head coach Greg Huffaker, a 1999 North Central graduate who has coached at Elmhurst since 2002. Matt Martin and Melinda Sprague will be captains for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, and among those returning are sophomores Jenny Nichols, who was last year's women’s “Best Newcomer” and “Hardest Worker”, and Lane Coonrod, who earned the men’s “Best Newcomer” honor.