Donnan, Cowan Finish In Top 100 At Nationals
(Photo By Vanessa E. Curry)
UT TYLER’S Ben Donnan (right) runs alongside Seah Watson, of Wesleyan, just after the 5K mark during Saturday’s race in Northfield, Minn.
By JEREMY COTHAM
Sports Correspondent
NORTHFIELD, Minn. - In any sport, there is no "I" in team but at the NCAA Division III Cross-Country National Championships meet Saturday at St. Olaf College, there was just R.J. Cowan and Ben Donnan.
The two runners advanced individually to the national meet as the rest of UT Tyler's mens cross country team could not join them after finishing third place last week in Virginia.
Donnan finished in a four-way tie for 80th place out of 280 runners with a time of 25:44, only 1:20 off the individual winner, senior Tyler Sigl from University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
"I have been here four years and it was finally my year to win it," Sigl said, who played football until his sophomore year of high school. "I was so relieved when I crossed the finish line, I just let out a sigh of relief."
Cowan followed five seconds behind Donnan at 25:49, but because of the tight field throughout the whole race, finished in 100th place.
"That was an extremely tough field out there today," UT Tyler coach Bob Hepler said. "I thought R.J. and Ben did an excellent job running. The runners and even the coaches learned a lot today from this competition. It is totally different running at this level."
The overall team winner on the men's side was New York University with 128 points. The upset of the day was Calvin, ranked No.1 in the nation, finished in fourth place as a team.
On the women's side, Amherst won first place with 120 points.
In their first season of postseason eligibility, the Patriots have made it as far as any team or individual can make it in cross country and the experience, Hepler said, will help the team for next season.
"Ben and R.J. will take the experience they got today back to the rest of their team," Hepler said. "They will also let the team know how much practice they need to put in over the offseason in order to get back here and be able to compete at such a high level."
Getting back to nationals is the goal from now on for Hepler and his team. For Cowan and Donnan, they return for their senior season and look to provide experience and leadership.
The only runner the Patriots lose from this year's team is senior Chauncey Deller.
Throughout the entire race, runners bared temperatures of right over freezing along with snow flurries and a cold northern wind.
"The weather today was what cross country should be run in," Hepler said.
The conditions, however, did not stop herds of students, parents and supporters coming out in packs and rooting for their respective teams.
From the start of the gun in the women's and men's race, herds of supporters ran like scattered ants from one end of the race to the other just to catch a glimpse of their runners to give them full support.
"I was pleased to see the great crowds come out here today," Hepler said. "It was amazing to see how many people represented their school today and even the supporters that came out for us."
Not having the whole team in Minnesota may have hurt the team in lack of getting experience, but Hepler said he hopes it will motivate them more next season to practice and make it back as a team next fall.
Sports Correspondent
NORTHFIELD, Minn. - In any sport, there is no "I" in team but at the NCAA Division III Cross-Country National Championships meet Saturday at St. Olaf College, there was just R.J. Cowan and Ben Donnan.
The two runners advanced individually to the national meet as the rest of UT Tyler's mens cross country team could not join them after finishing third place last week in Virginia.
Donnan finished in a four-way tie for 80th place out of 280 runners with a time of 25:44, only 1:20 off the individual winner, senior Tyler Sigl from University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
"I have been here four years and it was finally my year to win it," Sigl said, who played football until his sophomore year of high school. "I was so relieved when I crossed the finish line, I just let out a sigh of relief."
Cowan followed five seconds behind Donnan at 25:49, but because of the tight field throughout the whole race, finished in 100th place.
"That was an extremely tough field out there today," UT Tyler coach Bob Hepler said. "I thought R.J. and Ben did an excellent job running. The runners and even the coaches learned a lot today from this competition. It is totally different running at this level."
The overall team winner on the men's side was New York University with 128 points. The upset of the day was Calvin, ranked No.1 in the nation, finished in fourth place as a team.
On the women's side, Amherst won first place with 120 points.
In their first season of postseason eligibility, the Patriots have made it as far as any team or individual can make it in cross country and the experience, Hepler said, will help the team for next season.
"Ben and R.J. will take the experience they got today back to the rest of their team," Hepler said. "They will also let the team know how much practice they need to put in over the offseason in order to get back here and be able to compete at such a high level."
Getting back to nationals is the goal from now on for Hepler and his team. For Cowan and Donnan, they return for their senior season and look to provide experience and leadership.
The only runner the Patriots lose from this year's team is senior Chauncey Deller.
Throughout the entire race, runners bared temperatures of right over freezing along with snow flurries and a cold northern wind.
"The weather today was what cross country should be run in," Hepler said.
The conditions, however, did not stop herds of students, parents and supporters coming out in packs and rooting for their respective teams.
From the start of the gun in the women's and men's race, herds of supporters ran like scattered ants from one end of the race to the other just to catch a glimpse of their runners to give them full support.
"I was pleased to see the great crowds come out here today," Hepler said. "It was amazing to see how many people represented their school today and even the supporters that came out for us."
Not having the whole team in Minnesota may have hurt the team in lack of getting experience, but Hepler said he hopes it will motivate them more next season to practice and make it back as a team next fall.
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