Grantham, PA – The Messiah College cross country teams finished their 19th season under head coach
Dale Fogelsanger, with the men's and women's teams combining for seven first-place finishes in 2012.
The men saw great success this year, especially considering that the team had graduated eight students from last year's roster. Eleven freshmen joined the team for this season and they were instrumental in obtaining the top finishes. Six out of the seven NCAA Regionals runners for the Falcons were from the freshman class, with
John Ausel and
Jared Schatz being two of those top finishers. Schatz also earned Rookie of the Year honors by finishing as the top first-year runner at the MAC Championships.
Progression through the season is something that every coach wants to see from their teams. Fortunately for Fogelsanger and the Falcons, this season's schedule allowed for direct comparisons from beginning to end: the MAC Championships were held at Misericordia University where they ran in the Cougar Classic earlier in the season; and the NCAA Regionals were held at Big Spring H.S. hosted by Dickinson College where they ran in the Long-Short Invitational earlier in the season.
Eleven of the 12 male runners who ran in the MAC Championships also ran in the Cougar Classic. Of those 11 competitors, seven of them improved their time by an average of 32.55 seconds. Six of the seven male runners who competed in the NCAA Regionals also ran in the Long-Short Invitational, with five of those six improving their time by an average of 45.38 seconds.
The women's team saw a similar pattern as the men at those two race venues. All 11 runners in the MAC Championships also ran in the Cougar Classic, with seven improving their time by an average of 46.75 seconds. Five of the seven competitors in the NCAA Regionals also ran in the Long-Short Invitational, and all of those five runners improved their time by an average of 37.40 seconds.
“One of the most improved runners for either team would have to be freshman
Tasha Becker,” said assistant coach
Patrick Hager. “She started the season by recovering from an injury that occurred over the summer, but by the end she was running with the top three on the team.”
In the MAC Championships she improved on her time from the previous race at Misericordia by 2:05.23.
“
Nathan Fleming was one that improved a lot for the men,” said Hager. “He really pulled through in the regional race; he ran number five for us after being about seven or eight most of the season.”
Fleming also got a personal record (PR) at regionals by just under 45 seconds.
The NCAA Regionals highlighted the season well for both teams. Along with the progression described above, many more runners also achieved their season PR. Freshman classmates
John Ausel,
Nathan Fleming,
Jared Schatz, and
Christopher Scheib for the men were included in this bunch, with junior
Jessica Visneski and Senior
Brenda Flaherty collecting such marks for the women.
Additionally, some new faces on the women's side did very well, including Becker, mentioned earlier.
Jacquelyn Young and
Emily Senning also competed as top runners for the women, though Senning was battling injury for a portion of the year.
Without a doubt, the cross-country teams have a bright future ahead of them. They have young rosters that will continue to improve and compete strongly in future seasons. Be on the lookout for some of these runners in the spring when they will be competing with the Track and Field teams, also coached by Fogelsanger.
