Southeast cross country preview: 2008's finishes provide hope for runners

~ Southeast's cross country teams are young this year

Young Southeast Missouri State cross country teams will look to build on last year's strong performances.

Southeast's men finished second at the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Championships, while the women were third. The men also were a solid 12th at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

"Last year, especially on the men's side, I would think it was equal to if not the best season since the program went Division I," Southeast coach Miles Krieger said. "We equaled our highest finish at the conference meet and bettered our highest performance at regionals."

Krieger believes both Southeast teams once again can contend for high OVC finishes despite each squad having just one senior.

"I look for us to do well," said Krieger, whose teams open the season Friday at the Saluki Early Bird Invitational in Carbondale, Ill. "We'd like to finish at least in the top three with both the men and women."

Southeast's men lost star runner Brandon Karcher, who placed fourth at the 2008 OVC meet, but return two second-team all-conference performers.

Sophomore Nate Shipley, the reigning OVC freshman of the year, was 12th in the conference meet that Southeast hosted. Senior Dustin Davis was right behind in 13th place. The top seven runners make first-team all-OVC, with the next seven being placed on the second team.

"They both did very well last year and we're expecting a lot out of them again," Krieger said.

Other returners who participated at last year's OVC meet are junior Jason Lumpkin -- he narrowly missed out on an all-league spot by finishing 15th -- junior Chris Loseman (22nd) and junior Cody Martin (35th).

The Redhawks also should receive a boost from the return of junior Brandon Funderburk, who was 10th at the 2007 OVC meet but missed last year's event with an injury.

"He's training well right now," Krieger said. "We'll see if we can get the runner back that we had as a freshman."

Rounding out the squad are five freshmen, including Max Wieser from Saxony Lutheran High School.

Wieser, a sophomore academically, was on the Southeast track team last year but did not compete in cross country.

Other freshmen are Devon Dudding, Joel Krause, Tyler Mullen and Alex Zisser. Krieger said Mullen already has earned a spot in the regular lineup.

"He's a huge addition to the program," Krieger said.

Like the men, Southeast's women lost their top competitor from last year in Juli Koenegstein, the 2008 OVC runner-up.

But the Redhawks return two second-team all-OVC performers in junior Monica Noble (ninth) and junior Linnea Woldtvedt from Central High School (14th).

"They're coming off very good years, and we're looking for them to do big things again," Krieger said.

Sophomore Liz Speicher just missed an all-OVC berth by placing 15th. Other returning runners who competed at the OVC meet are junior Kasey Owens (33rd) and sophomore Lanie Haertling (55th).

The Redhawks' lone senior is Szandra Pal, a four-year member of the Southeast basketball team who has participated in distance races with the track squad but is running cross country for the first time.

"She will be able to help us," Krieger said.

Southeast returns one other runner in sophomore Kelley Good, while newcomers are freshmen Kaily Downey, Christy Hazel and Tiffany Mead.

Mead, from Central High School, is a sophomore academically but did not participate in sports at Southeast last year.

Southeast has six meets to prepare for the all-important OVC Championships set for Oct. 31 in Nashville, Tenn.