BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Seniors Valerie Lambrecht and Tim Hachmeister have been chosen, for the third 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 six meets, including the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, where her time of 23 minutes, 37 seconds earned her a second straight sixth place individual finish. She helped the IWU women’s team score 90 points and place third in the CCIW meet , the best finish for IWU since the women's program began in 1990, topping the previous bests of fourth place and 117 points in 2002.

Hachmeister (Elmhurst, Illinois Math & Science Academy), a Division III All-American in 2002, led IWU in six of the team’s eight meets last fall and set a course record with his 26 minute, 28.73 second first place time in the North Park Invitational on Sept. 11.

Freshman Jenny Nichols (Normal, West HS) was honored as the women’s “Best Newcomer” and “Hardest Worker” while freshman Lane Coonrod (Quincy HS) was tabbed as the men’s “Best Newcomer” and senior Chip Corwin (Cadillac, Mich., HS) was selected as the men’s “Hardest Worker.”

Nichols finished 21st in the CCIW meet with a time of 24:23 and was 70th in the Midwest Regional race with a run of 23:18.1, the third best time of any IWU runner.

Coonrod was second among IWU competitors in the CCIW meet, placing 38th with a time of 28:14 and had his season-low time of 26:43 at the Augustana Invitational Sept. 24.

Corwin had the Titans’ third best time in both the CCIW meet and the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, placing 40th overall with a run of 28:24, and placing 124th overall in the regional with his time of 26:43.1.

Sophomore Matt Martin (Heyworth, Normal U High) and junior Melinda Sprague (Ballwin, Mo., Parkway West HS) will be captains for the men’s and women’s teams next season.

Martin was IWU’s low finisher in the final two meets of the season, including placing 23rd at the CCIW meet (27:04) and 68th in the NCAA Midwest Regional (25:42.3).

Sprague finished seventh at the CCIW championships with a time of 23:46, was 45th at the NCAA Regional (22:50.7), and set a course record with a time of 18 minutes, 59.12 seconds in the Hedstrand Invitational at North Park on Sept. 11.

The IWU men’s team placed seventh in the CCIW meet.

Head coach Chris Schumacher awarded letters to seven women and eight men. They are, with hometowns and high schools:

MEN

SENIORS - Chip Corwin (Cadillac, Mich., HS); Tim Hachmeister (Elmhurst, Illinois Math & Science Academy).
JUNIORS – Eric Myszka (Louisville, Ky., Wheeling, Ill. HS); Tony Reinhart (Tuscola HS).
SOPHOMORES – Jordan Bartle (Wheaton, Wheaton-Warrenville South HS); Matt Martin (Heyworth, Normal U High).
FRESHMEN – Lane Coonrod (Quincy HS); Russ Flinchum (Chicago, Loyola Academy).

WOMEN

SENIOR - Valerie Lambrecht (Winfield, Wheaton North HS).
JUNIOR - Melinda Sprague (Ballwin, Mo., Parkway West HS).
SOPHOMORES – Megan Byrne (Des Plaines, Maine West HS); Liz Chandler (Petersburg, Athens HS); Mary Kate Gergel (Glenwood, Marian Catholic HS).
FRESHMEN – Mary Ellen Barron (Naperville, Neuqua Valley HS); Jenny Nichols (Normal, West HS).