LAKERS COMPETE AT NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Three members of the Iowa Lakes Community College Cross Country Team competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association Championship Meet Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., at the Rim Rock Farm.

While no one placed in the top 10, one runner had a ‘personal best’ and another was close to his ‘personal best’ time.

Molly Duitsman, a sophomore from Estherville, got 56^th place out of 117 runners.

“She ran a season best time of 21:38 on a 5K course,” said Mike Nichols, Head Coach for the Cross Country team.  “It was her best race of the year – especially considering that it was the toughest course we’ve run on this year.”

Molly’s goal was to finish in the top half – and she did that. 

“I feel really good,” Duitsman said Saturday afternoon.  “I really liked the course.  It was really hilly, but I like hills so that was an advantage to me.”

She also had another advantage coming from a northern climate.

“It was colder out and we’ve been practicing in the cold.” Duitsman said.  “Some of the runners were from warmer areas and they were kind of intimated, so that helped me because I was used to it.  It was a great way to end it.  I was very happy with my time.”

Since this was the last race of her community college career, Duitsman offered advice to others thinking about going out for cross country.  

“I’d tell them to do it,” she said.  “You can have your own personal goals and it’s really a fun sport to be in.  As a community college, we get to advance automatically to nationals, plus you get a chance to travel all over.”

In the men’s competition, Keith Romans, a freshman from New Hampton, took 81^st with a time of 29:24.

“It was just off his best time of the year,” said Nichols.  “He had a really good race.   We had hoped to get top half, but it was really stiff competition. Of the four races of the day, the men’s Division 2 was the deepest field.”

Like, Duitsman, he liked the course.

“It wasn’t a dull course, it was very interesting,” said Romans.  “I’m definitely looking forward to next year.  I know now where I have to work so it gives me a goal to shoot for  next year.”

“It was also interesting to meet people from different colleges and from different states,” Romans added.

Jim Oey, a freshman from the Netherlands, was 109^th with a time of 40:54.

“We’re really proud of Jim just to finish the race,” said Nichols.  “He had an injury and has been out three weeks so it was a big accomplishment for him to finish and be close to the times he’s been running all year.”

The weather was on Oey’s mind.

“It was fun, but it was a little bit cold here,” Oey said.  “I liked the course.”

Oey added that it was nice that Duitsman got to watch the men finish before her race started.

This was the first national cross country meet in which the Lakers participated.  Iowa Lakes is the only community college in Iowa to offer cross country as an intercollegiate sport.  During the season, Iowa Lakes competed in nine meets – running against four-year college competition. 

Iowa Lakes began recruiting students for cross country early in 2003.  It is hoped that a larger team will be recruited for the 2004-2005 college year.

In addition to cross county, students may participate in intercollegiate sports of baseball, softball, volleyball, golf and basketball at Iowa Lakes.