2010 Iowa Conference Cross Country Championships Webpage
DUBUQUE, IOWA . . . Luther College placed eight women and five men in top-16 to sweep the team titles at the 2010 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Cross Country Championships at the Dubuque Soccer Complex Saturday. Cornell senior Andrew Tobben won the men’s 8-kilometer race in a time of 25 minutes, 52.2 seconds to capture Iowa Conference Most Valuable Runners honors for the second consecutive season. On the women’s side, Luther junior Emma Spoon took the 6-kilometer championship race in 22:28.5 and earned her first MVP award.
The Luther women used five top-10 performances to score 28 points and edge two-time defending champion Wartburg (39 points), which had five All-Conference runners of its own. The victory gives the Norse 12 women’s titles, breaking a tie with Wartburg, and their first since 2007. Central (108), Loras (116), and Cornell (119) rounded out the top five.
Luther’s men persevered in a team race that was decided more by the bottom half of the lineup than those at the top. With scoring runners finishing third, 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th, the Norse totaled 57 points to edge Loras by four points. The Duhawks had three runners in the top 10 but were forced to count 24th-place team points from their No. 5 runner. Cornell, led by Tobben and seventh-place finisher Chase Nowak, took third with 77 points. The 57 points represent the highest point total by an Iowa Conference champion – men or women. The Luther men now have an IIAC-record 32 titles, including a current streak of five in a row.
Tobben, the defending champion, won the 2010 title by 12 seconds over Coe senior Ryan Schroeder (26:04.4). Luther’s Erik Johnson (26:10.9) took third, just ahead of Loras’ Jerry Olp (26:14.5), Simpson’s Ryan Edwardson (26:18.9), Coe’s Kyle Heineman (26:22.0), and Cornell’s Nowak (26:26.8) in fourth through seventh, respectively. Johnson earned all-conference honors for the fourth time, while Tobben and Luther’s Shane Steele (12th, 26:40.0) earned all-conference honors for the third time. Schroeder, Heineman, and Nowak each received honors for the second time.
Spoon won the 6-kilometer women’s race by just over four seconds over Simpson’s Catie Ellingson (22:33.9), who finished second for the second consecutive year en route to her fourth all-IIAC honor. Luther’s Ellie Neubauer took third (22:42.3) just ahead of 2009 champion Anna Kraayenbrink of Wartburg (22:46.7). Kraayenbrink’s teammate, Lori Tlach, was just behind in fifth place (22:49.1). Kraayenbrink and Tlach each earned all-IIAC honors for the third time. Luther’s Kim Horner (sixth, 23:06.1), Sarah Lundine (10th, 23:26.4), and Melissa Erickson (12th, 23:40.4) each earned All-Iowa Conference honors for the second time.
Coaches of the Year: Luther men's coach Steve Pasche was named Iowa Conference Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year after guiding the Norse to a fifth straight title, while Luther women's coach Yarrow Pasche was honored for the third time in five seasons.
The top-15 scoring runners at the Iowa Conference Championships receive All-Conference recognition.
