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2008 cross country Season OutlookWomen The 2008 version of the CMU women’s cross country team holds a lot of promise. The team is coming off an outstanding year where the team finished second in the conference and regional meets and just missed qualifying for the national meet. The team's goals for this year is to qualify for the national meet and finish in the top two in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) meet. “We would like to win the conference meet and get the automatic bid to the nationals,” Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Hoskisson said. “We have a very experienced team returning and the next step for us is to win the conference and go to nationals.” The team will be led by senior Lizy Boit who finished second in the conference and fourth in the regional meet in 2007. Boit was the Eagles' lone female qualifier for the 2007 national meet, where she finished 122nd. She is joined by returning conference top-10 finisher Kristi Williams, and top-20 conference finishers Christy and Angela Laxton. Williams, a sophomore, finished 10th at last year's HAAC meet and 26th at the regional meet , despite battling illness. Christy Laxton finished 18th at conference and 13th in the region. Angela Laxton was 19th in the conference and 20th in the region. In addition to Boit, Williams and the Laxtons, the Eagles return three other runners who will play a key role in the success of this year’s team. Junior Emily Jahrling was restricted last year by injuries but was the Eagles' top runner as a freshman. In 2007, she finished 37th at conference and 28th at the regional meet. Junior Elizabeth Zaragoza was 25th at the 2007 conference meet. Sophomore Kayla Braungardt, who last year finished 38th at conference and 47th at regionals, rounds out the Eagles returners.
Men The 2008 CMU men will be looking to improve upon their sixth-place team finish at the 2007 HAAC meet. The Eagles will be led by sophomore Josphat Sawe. Sawe, who sits second on the Eagles' all-time cross country charts, finished eighth at the HAAC meet and seventh at the Region V championships. He earned a trip to the NAIA national meet, where he finished 98th. “Josphat gives us a quality No. 1 runner," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Hoskisson said. "We are looking for him to improve in only his second year of running cross country. Last year he did very well considering it was his first time ever running cross." Overall, the men will be young, with only two seniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores. The lone seniors are Tyler Handschin, who finished 50th in the conference last year, and Geoff Karhoff, who was 74th at the HAAC meet. In addition to Sawe, a strong group of sophomores is led by Peter Muldoon , Daniel Jacobs, Mike Kelly, and Brecht Madalijns. Muldoon finished 45th at last year's HAAC meet, with Jacobs 59th, Kelly 61st and Madaljins 75th. Newcomers include Anthony Kiprono, who ran for the Eagle track team last spring, Lucas Manring, a two-time state 800-meter champion from Stockton, Mo., Shane Watts (Moscow Mills, Mo.), Knial Piper (Springfield, Mo.), William Simmons (Versailles, Mo.), and Derek Laxton (Scott City, Mo.). “We are excited about the young guys that we have,” Hoskisson said. “If they can handle the increase in distance at the college level, we feel that they will turn into very good college cross country runners.”
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