January 13, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Juniors Valerie Lambrecht and Tim Hachmeister have been chosen, for the second straight season, as the "Most Valuable Performers" for the Illinois Wesleyan University women's and men's cross country teams, respectively.
Lambrecht (Winfield. Wheaton North HS) was the Titans' best runner in five meets, including the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, where her time of 23 minutes, 14 seconds earned her a sixth place finish.
Hachmeister (Elmhurst, Illinois Math & Science Academy), a Division III All-American in 2002, led IWU in eight meets last fall and was sixth in the CCIW event with a time of 25:38. His time of 26:01 was good for medalist in the Beloit Old English Meet (Oct. 4) and he placed in the top seven in six meets.
Seniors Laine Twanow (Spring Valley, Peru St. Bede HS) and Joe Binder (Decatur, St. Teresa HS) were chosen as the cross country "Hardest Workers" while freshmen Megan Byrne (Des Plaines, Maine West HS) and Matt Martin (Heyworth, Normal U High) earned the "Most Valuable Newcomer" honors for their respective squads.
Twanow ran in all 10 meets last fall and her season-best time of 21:54.9 was in the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Invitational on Oct. 18.
Binder had his season-best time of 26:05 for a 27th place finish in the Sept. 26 Augustana Invitational, three weeks before a stress fracture ended his season.
Byrne jumped off to a blazing college start as she was IWU's top finisher in all four of the meets she completed. In her first meet, Byrne set a school record of 11:46.29 over a 3,200 meter course at Elmhurst and she never finished lower than sixth before a season-ending stress fracture injury.
Martin was IWU's low finisher in two meets, including placing second among Division III runners at the SIU-Edwardsville meet Oct. 11. His season-best was 26 minutes, 9 seconds at the Augustana Invitational on Sept. 26.
Hachmeister and junior Chip Corwin (Cadillac, Mich., HS) were selected as the co-captains for the 2004 men's team while Lambrecht and sophomore Melinda Sprague (Ballwin, Mo., Parkway West HS) will be co-captains for the women's squad.
The IWU women's team and men's team each placed sixth in the CCIW meet this fall. Head coach Chris Schumacher awarded letters to seven women and six men. They are, with hometowns and high schools:
MEN
SENIORS - Joe Binder (Decatur, St. Teresa HS); Mike Elwood (LaGrange Park, Lyons Township HS); Van Miller (Deerfield HS).
JUNIORS - Chip Corwin (Cadillac, Mich., HS); Tim Hachmeister (Elmhurst, Illinois Math & Science Academy).
FRESHMEN - Matt Martin (Heyworth, Normal U High).
WOMEN
SENIORS - Sarah Slevin (Peru, St. Bede Academy), Laine Twanow (Spring Valley. St. Bede HS).
JUNIOR - Valerie Lambrecht (Winfield, Wheaton North HS).
SOPHOMORE - Melinda Sprague (Ballwin, Mo., Parkway West HS)
FRESHMEN - Megan Byrne (Des Plaines, Maine West HS); Mary Kate Gergel (Glenwood, Marian Catholic HS); Colleen Kuenster (Wheaton, North HS).
