Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships

Carbondale, IL -- November 1, 2014 (Results @ mvc-sports.com: http://www.mvc-sports.com/cc/news/2014-15/7513/2014-cross-country-championship/#.VHrv5f10yJc)

The MVC Championships was contested on the SIU XC course this year.  It was expected to be a close battle for the title and this prediction lived up to its billing.  The top three mens team were separated by only 9 points.   Southern Illinois and Indiana State finished tied for the top spot with 73 points with the tiebreaker going to the Sycamores 3-2.  Bradley University finished a strong third in the conference standings.

Indiana State's John Mascari paced the field on his way to winning the event and being voted Athlete of the Year in the MVC.

SIU place three runners on the All-Conference First Team with Michael Castel, Oscar Medina and Juan Carrera finishing 6-8 respectively for a great 1-2-3 punch for the Salukis.





The MVC women's team race went to a strong Bradley squad with a point total of 39.  The Lady Braves had the OA winner and placed three runners in the top five spots.

Illinois State Univ and Southern Illinois finished in the 2-3 team spots with 71 and 78 points respectively.

SIU's Krista Menghini finished in 10th place OA and earned All-Conference First Team honors.  SIU's Kelley Gallagher and Kristen Levi also finished in the top 15 and placed 12th and 15th respectively.

 

L to R:  Michael Castel, Oscar Medina and Juan Carrera move along with the lead pack early on in the 8K race.

 

 

 

 

Brandon Shemonia

 

 

 

 

Matt Hazel and Nick Schrader.

 

 

 



Evan Ehrenheim

 

 

SIU Saluki Early Bird

Carbondale, IL -- August 29, 2014 (Results @ http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/c-xc/recaps/082914aac.html )

CARBONDALE, Ill. -  The Southern Illinois cross country teams opened the 2014 season on Friday with the Saluki Early Bird meet. The men defeated Indiana State, 23-32, while the women fell to ISU, 32-23. Both teams competed in separate 4K races.

The meet opened with the women's 4K, which saw five SIU runners finish in the top-ten. Senior Tori Parry led the charge for the Salukis, finishing second with a time of 14:45.77. Sophomore Shannon Effron finished two places behind Parry, finishing fourth in a time of 15:06.95. Senior Lacey Gibson, freshman Allie Sweatt, and senior Allison Gallo finished seventh, ninth, and 10th respectively for SIU.
 

Head coach David Beauchem was pleased with what he saw from his women's team and was glad to see his underclassmen perform well in their first collegiate meet.

"I thought it was good overall," said Beauchem. "We came out and ran our freshman. I thought that Shannon, Allie, Claire (Darnell), and Hillary (Merrill) all had pretty good races for freshmen in their first collegiate meet. They really raced better than they had been training."

The men's team had a strong showing, with all five runners finishing in the top eight. Senior Michael Castel earned his first win as a Saluki, winning the 4K race with a time of 12:03.39. Junior Juan Carrera kept pace, finishing second in a time of 12:05.21. Senior Matt Hazel took third, crossing the finish line in 12:08.92. Senior Cole Allison and junior Evan Ehrenheim finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

"Mike came in and won his first race with SIU, and he has not raced cross country in two years so we really had to get the rust off of him," said Beauchem. "Juan ran steady like he always does and Matt came out and ran great and really stepped up in the top three. It was a good opener to have the men get the win."

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Several of the women's and men's starters were held out of this first competition and most will begin their season at the upcoming SIU Invitational on September 20th.
 

The Saluki teams have both been tagged in the recently released 2014 USTFCCCA Pre-season polls.  The men's team is ranked 11th in the always tough Midwest Region.  The Saluki women are ranked 4th in the Pre-season poll.  The MVC each have four teams ranked in the top 15 in the Midwest Region thus giving credence to the overall depth and quality of the Missouri Valley Conference.  Illinois State, Loyola-Chicago and Bradley Universities all have both their men's and women's teams included in the first D-1 rankings. 

--KHammes
 

2014 St. Louis Track Club XC Kickoff Classic 5K

Forest Park -  St. Louis, MO

 

1. Nick Happe - 15:13
2. Brandon Shemonia -15:16
3. Juan Carrera - 15:17
4. Matt OConner - 15:20
5. Eric Schott - 15:20
6. Drew Webster - 15:31
7. Danny Stults - 15:32
8. Matthew Lawder - 15:36
9. Travis Lavin - 15:40
10. Eric Johannigmeir - 15:51
11. Connor Ryan - 15:53
12. Matt Hazel - 15:55
13. Alex Mason - 16:00
14. Ben Kisley - 16:04
15. Craig Munie - 16:13

2014 Drake Relays 10000 Men's Race

Drake University, Des Moines, IA -- April 23, 2014

• The top 4 broke away at the 5 mile mark with Lusiganan taking a comfortable lead with 800m to go and leading the pack toward the finish. 


• Lusiganan is coming off a 12th place finish in the 2013 D1 XC Championships. 


• Shemonia, running unattached, will be competing for SIU at Carbondale, Illinios this fall as a member of the Saluki XC team under the guidance of coach Matt Sparks. 

1. Trent Lusiganan, Unatt:  29:55
2. Brandon Shemonia, Unatt:  30:04
3. Sean Senf, Illinois St:  30:06
4. Dan Caddigan, Air Force:  30:09
5. Mubarik Musa, S Dakota U:  30:10
6. Blake DeLong, McKendree:  30:11
7. Conor Wells, Drake:  30:12
8. Dylan Reyes, St Francis:  30:13
9. Caleb Kerr, Purdue:  30:15
10. Paul Yak, Augustana SD:  30:17      

St. Patrick's Day Parade Run

St. Louis MO -- March 15, 2014 (Results @ Chronotrack.com: http://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-5155?lc=en)

Top 10 Finishers

1. Matt O'Conner, 27, 24:22
2. Brandon Shemonia, 19, 25:12
3. Chris Loseman, 25, 25:40
4. Mike Aitken, 31, 25:50
5. Eric Johannigmier, 25, 26:00
6. Bryan Glass, 40, 26:06
7. Travis Lavin, 26, 26:20
8. Connor Callahan, 23, 26:28
9. Daniel Stults, 28, 26:29
10. David Nilges, 22, 26:30

Brandon Shemonia and Matt O'Connor pacing the field just past the 2 mile mark of the race.

Chris Loseman, SEMO alumus and former OVC 10,000m champion finishing strong in third place.

 

 

 



Jay Townsend, member of SEMO's National Championship XC team in the mid-1980's shows the youngsters how it is done in your late 40's by finishing 24th overall in a national-class time of 28:41.

 

 

 

 

James Woolridge, 50+ y/o superman finishes the race!

Kim's Toybox Run

 

 December 01, 2013



Top 20 Finishers

 

 

1. Zach Young  ---3:56
2. Ryan Lane    --- 4:50
3. Mark Hahn   --- 5:07
4. Kevin Hammes-5:14
5. Alex Ramsey ---5:28
6. Gene Magnus -- 5:33
7. Mary Dohogne - 5:39
8. Travis Caulkins -5:41
9. Alex Schneider --5:54
10. Jarett Seabaugh -6:14
11. Sean Harold  --- 6:15
12. Duane Emmons 6:20
13. Nathan Phelps -6:32
14. Maddy McDonald - 6:33
15. Kinleigh Alnutt -6:46
16. Terry Schott  ---7:03
17. Tonya Skinner -7:05
18. Paul Unterreiner 7:07
19. Brad Mueth ----7:08
20. David Crader --7:11

Full results available at www.caperoadrunners.org



 

 



 



Midsouth Championship Marathon / Half Marathon

Wynne, AR -- November 2, 2013 (Results @ Stearns Race Timing: Marathon: http://www.stearnsracetiming.com/Results/2013/11-2%20wynne/full%20overall.txt
Half Marathon: http://www.stearnsracetiming.com/Results/2013/11-2%20wynne/half%20overall.txt


Several members of the Cape Girardeau running community ventured down to Wynne, Arkansas for the 15th annual Mid South Championships Marathon/Half Marathon.  I had heard from several people that this was a good race which, in addition to being certified, also had great course support and post-race amenities.  The price of this HM and full marathon are also a fraction of the price of most of the larger events in the Midwest which is also a big plus.


We were greeted by a nice 49 degree 8:00 a.m starting time temperature with a light wind.  Approximately 450 people toed the line for the two races which were ran simultaneously.  This is an interesting race due to the fact that everyone starts together as well as it being an out-and-back course for both distances.  At the respective turn-around points each competitor can see exactly how the race is shaking out both in front and behind of them.

The leader went out at 6:10 for the first mile then settled back into a more comfortable pace as he was running the full marathon.  Hammes and Brandon Shemonia were hanging back several seconds behind the leader until the mile mark then Shemonia, who was making his HM debut, decided to start pushing the pace a little more.  He was running his first 13.1 mile on feel as his garmin had decided not to work.  This would make his race a little more interesting.

Shemonia hit the 6.5 mile turnaround in a little over 36 minutes and chatted with the "old man" on his way back.  Hammes hit the turnaround point several minutes later and, when turning around, saw a familiar face about 25 seconds behind him.  Leah Torvillson, Arkansas native and multiple time Olympic qualifier at the marathon distance was rolling toward the HM turnaround point.  I looked back after running for 25 seconds to see if Torvillson was going to keep running past the HM turnaround or if she would be blowing by me in the near future.  She continued on and ended up being the overall marathon winner with a time of 2:43:xx and looked like she was out for an easy jog as she finished her last 200m in the high school stadium.  She is an incredible distance runner.

Brandon Shemonia ended up leading the HM group to the finish line despite taking a slight detour toward the end of the route and running an extra 3 blocks.  Brandon's 1:15:32 finish time was impressive based on his current training and he is already looking forward to the day when he can again compete at the HM distance.

Andy Johnson and Chellie Jannin, two of SE Missouri's elite marathoners, both finished strong races in windy conditions and took home 2nd place OA plaques.  It was a good day for many of the SE Missouri runners and this is a quality race which is very well run with fantastic course support.  It also features one of the best post-race meals I have ever been treated to.  Kudos to all those who made this race an enjoyable experience. 

SEMO "Men's Team" -- Kevin Hammes (2nd Overall HM), Andy Johnson (2nd OA Marathon),
and Brandon Shemonia (Overall HM Winner).  (Photo by Beverly Johnson)

Chellie Jannin: 2nd Overall Female in Marathon.  (Photo by Beverly Johnson)