Also see other stories at Cross Country Archives
April 18
Greg Huffaker has been named the new head cross country coach for men and women and assistant track coach at Illinois Wesleyan University. Huffaker, who replaces Chris Schumacher in the cross country role and will assist Schumacher in track, is no stranger to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. A 1999 graduate of North Central (and former cross country team captain), Huffaker comes to IWU from Elmhurst, where he has been head men's cross country coach and head men's track and field coach since February 2002. At Elmhurst he guided the men’s cross country team to a second place finish in the 2004 CCIW meet and to third place finishes in 2002 and 2003. In 2004 Elmhurst finished sixth in the Midwest Regional meet. Prior to coaching at Elmhurst, Huffaker was a cross country and track assistant coach at North Central.
December 13
Seniors Valerie Lambrecht and Tim Hachmeister were chosen, for the third straight season, as the "Most Valuable Performers" for the Illinois Wesleyan women's and men's cross country teams, respectively. Lambrecht was the Titans' best runner in six meets, including the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships, where her time of 23:37 earned her a second straight sixth place individual finish. The IWU women placed third in the CCIW meet , the best finish since the women's program began in 1990. Hachmeister led IWU in six of the team’s eight meets and set a course record with his 26:28.73 time in the North Park Invitational Sept. 11. Freshman Jenny Nichols was honored as the women’s “Best Newcomer” and “Hardest Worker” while freshman Lane Coonrod was tabbed as the men’s “Best Newcomer” and senior Chip Corwin was selected as the men’s “Hardest Worker.” Matt Martin and Melinda Sprague will be captains for the men’s and women’s teams next season.
November 13
Valerie Lambrecht finished 37th and Melinda Sprague finished 45th to lead the Illinois Wesleyan women’s cross country team to a 10th place finish, the best ever at IWU, in the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, held at Credit Island Park in Davenport, Iowa, on Sat., Nov. 13. The previous high finish for an IWU women’s team was 12th in 2002. IWU had 358 points and team winner UW-Stevens Point had 76. Lambrecht’s time in the 6K was 22 minutes, 45.2 seconds while Sprague traveled the course in 22:50.7. The IWU men’s team placed 20th with 606 points as UW-LaCrosse won with 73. With a time of 25:42.3 in the 8K, Matt Martin was IWU’s low finisher in 68th place as Tim Hachmeister ran 87th with a time of 25:57.9.
October 30
Valerie Lambrecht finished sixth and Melinda Sprague finished seventh to lead the Illinois Wesleyan women’s cross country team to a third place finish in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, held Oct. 30 at DuPage River Park in Naperville, Ill. Lambrecht ran a time of 23 minutes, 37 seconds and Sprague was at 23:46. IWU finished with 90 points as Wheaton won with 39 and Elmhurst’s Marisa Male was first in a time of 22:57.
The third place team finish and 90 points are the best for the Titans since the IWU women's program began in 1990, topping the previous bests of fourth place and 117 points in 2002. Since 1990 and prior to this year's championship meet, IWU, North Park, Carthage and Millikin had never been a top three school in the CCIW women's cross country championship.
The IWU men’s team placed seventh with 191 points as North Central won with 15. With a time of 27:04, Matt Martin was IWU’s low finisher in 23rd place as North Central’s Pat Rizzo won with a run of 25:44.
October 16
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team had 216 points to finish eighth overall and sixth among Division III teams at the Tori Neubauer 6K race, while the IWU men's team had 493 points to finish 19th overall and13th among Division III teams at the Jim Drews 8K race. both staged by UW-LaCrosse at Maple Grove Country Club in West Salem, Wis., on Sat., Oct. 16.
For the IWU women, senior Valerie Lambrecht finished 22nd with a time of 23 minutes, 20.6 seconds and junior Melinda Sprague was 31st with her time of 23:36.1. Sophomore Megan Byrne clocked in at 23:39.4 to finish in 34th place. With 78 points, Luther won the team title and Wartburg’s Missy Buttry was the individual winner at 20:03.9.
For the Titan men, senior Tim Hachmeister finished 46th with a run of 26 minutes, 7.9 seconds and sophomore Matt Martin was 64th with his time of 26:44.5. Freshman Lane Coonrod was 117th with a clocking of 27:46.4. Division I Wisconsin had 30 points to win the team title and D-I Minnesota’s Andrew Carlson was the blue medalist with a time of 24:12.
October 9
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished first of 11 competing teams and the men's cross country team placed sixth among 17 teams at the Beloit (Wis.) Old English Classic on Sat., Oct. 9.
The women’s team scored 51 points to finish ahead of runnerup UW-Stout. Valerie Lambrecht finished fifth with a time of 19 minutes, 47 seconds to lead IWU on the 5,000 meter course that includes running through streams and over logs and bales of hay. Four other Titans finished in the top 22 - Megan Byrne was seventh (20:11), Melinda Sprague was 10th (20:21), Jennifer Nichols was 16th (20:31) and Liz Chandler was 22nd (21:10). Amanda Kuca of Concordia (Wis.) won in 18:50.
With his time of 26 minutes, 36 seconds, senior Tim Hachmeister placed sixth on the 8,000 meter course. IWU’s Matt Martin ran to an 11th place finish with a clocking of 27:03, Lane Coonrod was 34th (28:08) and Chip Corwin was 66th at 29:46. The Illinois Wesleyan men’s team scored 185 points. Wisconsin-Platteville was the team champion with 39 points and their runner, Tyler Sigl, took the blue ribbon with a time of 25:52.
September 24
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finished seventh while the IWU men's cross country team finished 12th in the 30-team Brissman-Lundeen Invitational, hosted by Augustana at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa, on Fri., Sept. 24. The top finishers for the Titan women were Valerie Lambrecht, who was 14th with a time of 22 minutes, 44 seconds, and Melinda Sprague, who was 15th in a time of 22 minutes, 45 seconds. Olivet Nazarene won the women's meet. The Illinois Wesleyan men were led by a ninth place finish by senior Tim Hachmeister with a time of 25 minutes, 23 seconds. Sophomore Matt Martin was 38th with his time of 26:11 and freshman Lane Coonrod was 67th in a run of 26:43. Host Augustana won the men's title.
September 18
The Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team scored 84 points to place fourth in the five-team University of Wisconsin-Whitewater “Division III Challenge” on Sat., Sept. 18, while the men's cross country team scored 134 points to place fifth among six teams at the UW-Whitewater meet. The top Titan female runner was Valerie Lambrecht, who took ninth place with her time of 19 minutes, 26 seconds in the 5K event. Melinda Sprague finished 10th (19:27) followed by freshman Jennifer Nichols, who was 20th with a time of 19:56. Washington (Mo.) was the team winner with 48 points and the individual champion was UW-Platteville's Jackie Mulrooney (18:34).
Leading the IWU men was Tim Hachmeister, who earned eighth place with his time of 26 minutes, 38 seconds across the 8,000 meter course. Freshman Lane Coonrod finished 25th with his time of 27:50 and sophomore Matt Martin was 30th in a time of 28:06. The University of Chicago was the team champion with 46 points and the individual medalist was Brennan Bonner of Washington (Mo.) with a time of 26:09.
September 11
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s and men’s cross country teams won both the team and individual titles at the five-team Ted Hedstrand Invitational, run in Chicago (hosted by North Park) on Sat., Sept. 11. The women were led by junior Melinda Sprague, who had her career-best time as she toured the 5,000-meter women's course in 18 minutes, 59.12 seconds. The Titan women scored 20 points in winning the five-team event as Megan Byrne was second (19:01), Valerie Lambrecht fourth (19:42), Jennifer Nichols fifth (19:55) and Mary Ellen Barron ninth (20:32). The Illinois Wesleyan men’s team won the six-team meet as senior Tim Hachmeister set a course record in running the 8,000-meter men's route in 26:28.73, winning by over a minute. The IWU men tallied 32 points as following Hachmeister were Lane Coonrod in third (28:05), Chip Corwin in seventh (28:52), Tony Reinhart in 11th (30:50) and Eric Myszka in 15th (31:34).
September 3
Sophomore Megan Byrne, senior Valerie Lambrecht and junior Melinda Sprague all finished in the top 10 to help the Illinois Wesleyan women's cross country team finish second (of 17) at the North Central Chuck Carroll Invitational at DuPage River Park in Naperville, Ill., on Fri., Sept. 3. Byrne covered the 6,000-meter race in 24 minutes, 7 seconds to finish sixth, Lambrecht was seventh in a time of 24:13, and Sprague was 10th (24:25). The IWU men, behind senior Tim Hachmeister's fifth-place time of 26:27 in the 8,000, placed seventh of 16 teams. The next two runners for the Titans were Lane Coonrod (32nd in 28:02) and Matt Martin (33rd in 28:06).
September 2004
The 2004 Illinois Wesleyan cross country season will get underway at a meet on Fri., Sept. 3 at DuPage River Park,
hosted by North Central. The women's 6,000 will begin at 5 p.m. with the men's five-mile run slated to begin at 6 p.m.
