Redhawks Men Finish 2nd; Women 3rd at OVC Cross Country Championships :: Six Redhawks finished with All-OVC honors

Nov. 1, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – With the regular season coming to an end today at the Jaycee Municipal Golf Course in Cape Girardeau, the Redhawks men’s and women’s teams both finish respectively in the top three at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships. The men’s team finished the 8K in second place with a score of 66, right below Eastern Kentucky. The women took third with a score of 59, just shy of Murray State’s 55 points.

The men’s team finished strong with three All-OVC First and Second team honorees. Senior Brandon Karcher received first team honors finishing fourth with a time of 25:40.6. Freshman Nate Shipley finished 12th with a time of 26:22.6, earning him the Freshman of the Year award. Dustin Davis finished right behind Shipley for a time of 26:28.4.

Just seven seconds shy of receiving All-OVC honors was sophomore Jason Lumpkin who finished 15th with a time of 26:37.7. Fellow teammate Chris Loseman clocked in at 27:03.1, good enough for a 22nd place finish. Junior Paul Stemmerman finished in 32nd place with a seasons best time of 27:38.5. Rounding out the men’s team for the Redhawks were Cody Martin (35th – 27:51.2) and Travis Matthews (56th – 28:07.2).

Brandon Karcher was named First Team All-OVC after his fourth-place finish

For the women, senior Juli Koenegstein paced the Redhawks with a time of 18:37.9. Koenegstein has placed in the All-OVC teams for the past two years. She finished second this year behind Golden Eagles senior Stephanie Place; which qualified her for First Team All-OVC honors. This is Koenegstein's best finish to date.

Place has dominated the women's division this season receiving five runner of the week awards; Koenegstein won the weekly award once. Place and Koenegstein led the entire race as the hills seemed to be too much for many of the runners who were used to the traditional flat cross country courses.

Sophomore Monica Noble (9th – 19:15.2) and junior Linnea Woldtvedt (14th - 19:31.3) received Second Team All-OVC honors for the women’s 5K. Freshman Liz Speicher followed right behind Woldtvedt for a 15th place finish with a time of 19:41; the second best freshman time in the championships. Senior Amy Warren placed 19th with a time of 19:52.5. Rounding out the women’s team for the Redhawks were Kasey Owens (33rd – 20:37.9) and Lauren Heidbrink (21:56.6).