Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jason Livernois

Hendrix hosted the SCAC conference cross country meet last weekend. This meet served as a tune-up for the men's and women's cross country teams before the NCAA southern region meet on Nov. 12. The hill free nature trails provided the ideal course for running on. The cool temperature also played a factor in the record-breaking day. The best testament to the course's speed is the fact that eighteen of the top twenty best times ever in the conference happened Saturday. On the men's side Depauw won their sixth straight conference championship with a perfect score of 15, meaning the top five runners in the conference were from the Green Castle, IN school. The Depauw's women's team also took home the women's trophy. Hendrix's own Julie Coats finished second overall with a time of 21:33 in the 6k race.

"The guys ran pretty well. We had a couple of guys under the weather, but overall their effort was decent," said cross country coach Patrick MacDonald. "[The girls] ran well, but didn't race great," MacDonald said.

The men's team ended up eighth overall in the ten team conference, the same position as in 2004. Last year the women's team took ninth in conference. This year they jumped up 3 positions overall to sixth.

"That is a big jump, but we are capable of more. Everyone is continuing to improve, running personal records each race, and we are looking forward to regionals to get our first team score at a regional meet and upset some of the SCAC teams that beat us this weekend," Senior Julie Coats, Hendrix's 5k record holder, said. "It was slightly disappointing because I went into the race to win, and I know I could have, but I ran too slow in the first 2 miles, and that hurt me in the end. I am pretty happy with my fitness level though, and I ran faster than I thought I could. That race gives me a lot of confidence going into the regional and national races in the coming weeks."

The runners are looking forward to running regionals. To qualify for nationals you either have to be on the winning team or one of the top five finishers on non-winning teams. There is a chance that two of the women, Coats and freshman Laura Broederdorf, could go to nationals. "We just have to show up with our A-game, and prove that our fitness and our training is better than everyone else in the region," Coats said.

"We are a much better team than last year, and that definitely came out. I'm happy that we scored as we did, but I know both teams are capable of more, and hopefully can prove just that on November 12," MacDonald said.

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