CROWDER WINS MVC CHAMPIONSHIP, SETS ISU 5K RECORD
DES MOINES, Iowa - It just keeps getting better and better for senior Jessica Crowder as the cross country season moves along. On Saturday, Crowder became the first Sycamore to win the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship since Amy Cohee, who won in 1993. Crowder is also one of just three females at Indiana State to win the MVC Meet.
In the process, the Farmersburg, Ind., native broke ISU’s 5K record with a time of 17:09 --19 seconds faster than Debbi Ramseyer’s mark of 17:28, which was set in 1992. With the first-place finish, Crowder also became the second Sycamore (Ramseyer) to earn all-conference honors four times. By virtue of the win, Crowder was also named MVC Cross Country Women’s Athlete of the Year.
Crowder defeated second-place finisher Casey Owens (Southwest Missouri State) by a convincing 17 seconds. She broke free from the pack around the 3K mark and ran away from Owens and her teammate Erin Sutton.
SMS took the team championship with 29 points. The Bears were followed by Southern Illinois (73), while ISU (110) and Illinois State (110) tied for third. Bradley was fifth with 126 points, followed by Northern Iowa (150), Creighton (170), Wichita State (191), Evansville (232) and Drake (245).
Freshman Maile Venable was the second ISU runner to cross the finish line at 18:36, good for 21st place. Sophomore Sarah Jarvis (25th -18:42), senior Amber Bucci (29th -19:01) and freshman Dani Prince (34th -19:15) rounded out the top five.
On the men’s side, the Sycamores finished as predicted in the MVC Prechampionship Coaches Poll in seventh place.
Junior Aaron Harding came in first for ISU in 17 th place with a time of 25:05. Sophomore Jordan Fife (22nd - 25:15), juniors Seth Aydt (39th - 25:40), Dustin Strosnider (41st - 25:44) and Craig Dismore (44th - 25:50) rounded out the top five.
The Sycamores will return to action at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on November 15 for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.