2008 Preview
The 2008 men's cross country team entered the 2007 season with expectations of winning their first Northern Athletics Conference championship, and came away surprising many new conference foes. To those that know the Raider's resume, this was no surprise, just their tenth consecutive conference title spanning two different conferences.
For the Raiders to reach eleventh in a row, they must rely on familiar faces and returning leadership. MSOE will only lose one from last year's team to graduation, but add some talented freshman to bring the squad close to 30 runners.
NAC Coach of the Year and fifth year head coach Larry Gardner will look to all NAC first team finishers for leadership and success this season. The Raiders Dominic Maio (Racine, Wis. / Prairie School), Zach Lutz (West Allis, Wis. / Nathan Hale), Tim Carlson (Oneida, Wis. / Pulaski), and Jay Stasiak (Sturgeon Bay, Wis. / Sturgeon Bay, Wis.), all finished the NAC cross country championships with first team honors, placing fourth, eighth, ninth and 13th respectively.
Depth is one of the Raiders strengths, with two runners returning form last year's squad, earning NAC honorable mention honors. Ben Bichler (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Prairie Ridge), and Cameron Rate (Theresa, Wis. / Slinger), received conference recognition, finishing in 19th and 28th place at the NAC championships, respectively.
Robert Kester, (Crete, Ill. / Crete-Monee ), Brian Seniuk (Brookfield, Wis./ Brookfield Central), Matt Jungers (Random Lake, Wis./ Random Lake) and Kyle Rate (Theresa, Wis. / Slinger) are among others to watch that could impact the MSOE cross country team this season. All three athletes played significant roles on last year's squad.
Incoming freshman will look to push the veteran Raider runners and assist in scoring higher than in year's past. With ten freshman recruits on the roster, the team will for sure be seeing some new faces up front, as the freshman class is known for pushing the status quo.
The season gets underway with the Carroll College on Saturday September 6. Other important meets include the prestigious Loyola Invitational on Saturday Sept. 27 and the Wisconsin Private Schools Invitational on October 18 at Dretzka Park in Milwaukee, Wis. The season cumulates with the NAC championship on Nov. 1, held in Mequon Wis., followed by the NCAA regional on November 15 hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.
