Women Win MVC Title; Paulsen Named Coach of the Year

Saturday, October 29

Cedar Falls, Iowa

10:30 a.m.

University of Northern Iowa

MVC Championships

Women Win MVC Title; Paulsen Named Coach of the Year

10/29/2016 1:53:00 PM | Cross Country

FINAL RESULTS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa women's cross country program won the 5K team title at today's MVC Cross Country Championships, with head coach Dave Paulsen being named the MVC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

It was the UNI women's first conference title since 2000. On top of Paulsen's Coach of the Year honor, Hannah Truniger also received MVC Freshman of the Year for her top 10 finish in today's 5K.

It was truly a team effort for the Panther win, with four UNI women placing in the top 10 and all seven earning top 50 finishes.

Leading the way for the Panthers was junior Ashley Norem, who scored her best conference finish in sixth overall. Because of her high finish, Norem was named the women's Elite 18 Award winner given to the athlete with the highest GPA. Norem has a 3.89 while pursuing a major in exercise science.

Norem finished the 5K race in 17:50.80, followed closely by UNI's second all-conference runner Kelsey Kirchoff, who placed seventh overall with a time of 17:53.00. True freshman Truniger came in ninth out of the 80 competitors with a time of 18:03.50, a new personal-best. Brette Correy crossed the finish line in stride with Truniger for UNI's fourth all-conference runner of the meet, rounding out the top-10 in 10^th overall with a time of 18:03.50.

Freshman Lucy Conroy was UNI's final scorer of the meet, putting in a 20^th place finish in her first conference meet, running a time of 18:27.40. As a team, UNI's total time was 1:30.19 with just 36 seconds between UNI's first and fifth finishers.

On the men's side, the Panthers placed sixth overall with Zach Buchheit earning all-conference honorable mention for his 15^th place finish. Buchheit's second all-conference honor came after he finished the 8K with a time of 25:32.00.

Dylan Eigenberger and Bailey Wetherell posted top 25 finishes, with Eigenberger coming in 21^st and Wetherell in 25^th. Eigenberger recorded a time of 25:46.70 with Wetherell coming across the finish line in 26:00.10. Wetherell's 25^th place finish overall is his highest at the conference meet, placing 35^th last season.

Two newcomers for the men finished up the third and fourth spots for the UNI men, with CJ May coming in 36^th and Ethan Smith in 37^th. May ran a time of 26:41.10 for his MVC meet debut while Smith recorded a time of 26:41.30.

UNI returns to action on Nov. 11 when they get to stay in-state for the NCAA Midwest Regionals, hosted by the University of Iowa. The meet is set to start at 11 a.m.