St. Louis- The 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship will be held this Saturday, November 2, at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso, Indiana, Hosted by Valparaiso University. The men’s 8K race will commence at 10:35a.m., followed by the women’s 5K at 11:35a.m.

The Bradley men’s team and Loyola women’s team were voted as the pre-championship favorites in this year’s coaches’ poll.  The Bradley men are looking to win their 5^th consecutive team championship, while the Loyola women look to clinch their first ever MVC team championship.

Picked by the coaches as the leading team to compete, Loyola landed the number one spot with 97 points. The Rambler women have been a top competitor this season, taking first at the Illinois State Invitational and taking second in the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. Junior, Mimi Reimers has the second fastest 5K time in the league, while being named MVC XC Athlete of the week on 9/17. Along Reimers, Tarynn Cullings, Sophia Noto and Kathleen Simms are all ranked within the top 15 on the Women’s 5K Best List and will be top competitors at this year’s Championship. The Ramblers have continued to climb the USTFCCCA regional rankings; going from 12^th in the Midwest region up to 9^th, as they have been ranked in the top 15 every week of this season.

Coming in just behind Loyola at number two is Bradley University, the reigning MVC champions with a score of 93 points. The Braves look to continue their streak at this year’s event which would make this their third consecutive MVC team championship and sixth in program history. The Bradley women have the top three 6K times in the MVC; McKenzie Altmayer leads with a time of 21:03.8, followed by Tyler Schwartz and Ayah Aldadah. This same trio also place among the top 15 on the MVC women’s 5K Best List. The Braves have continued to show their strength all season long placing 2^nd at the WIU Early Bird Invite and 1^st at both the Bradley Intercollegiate as well as the Bradley Pink Classic. In addition, the Braves continue to be placed in the top 15 of the USTFCCCA regional rankings for the Midwest every week of this season.

Coming in at number three is Illinois State with 77 points. The Redbirds are looking to win their eighth team championship with the last being 2012. Rachel Hickey currently sits with the third fastest 5K time in the MVC this season and was named MVC XC Female Athlete of the Week back-to-back weeks in October, while Grace Beattie sits with the sixth fastest 5k time on the MVC Best List. Both Beattie and Hickey also place in the top 10 on the MVC 6K Best List and will likely be strong competitors on Saturday alongside Annie Moore and Kennidi Knoblock who are looking to finish off their senior seasons with a strong championship showing.

Indiana State earned the fourth-place spot with 65 points. The Sycamores started their season off strong finishing second at the Crusader Open in their first meet of the season and are looking for another great showing at Sunset Hills Farm this weekend. This squad has three top-15 competitors in the MVC on their roster; Brooke Moore, a 2018 First Team All-Conference runner has the seventh fastest time in the Missouri Valley this season, followed by Alli Workman (11) and Jocelyn Quiles (15).

Picked by the coaches in fifth-place is Missouri State with 60 points. The Bears have won five women’s team titles and are looking for the sixth this weekend. Grace Breiten (All-Conference Runner) will be at the front of the pack for the Bears and currently sits with a fourth-best time in the MVC. Alongside Breiten will be Edna Dar and Erica Wollmering, who brought the Bears to a second-place finish at the J.K. Gold Classic and a first-place finish at the Southern Stampede.
 
Coming in sixth place is Northern Iowa with 49 points. UNI is looking to win their third team championship this year with the last being 2016. Leading the way for UNI will be Katie Nimrod, Cassidy Ihns and Paige Holub; leaders in the 5K for the Panthers.  
The seventh-place spot goes to Southern Illinois with 46 points. Redshirt senior Megan Krolak will look to improve upon her 11^th-place finish at the 2018 MVC Championships. Krolak will compete with Olivia Murphy and Rachel Anderson, the top-three 5K runners for the Salukis this season.

The Drake Bulldogs come in eighth with 31 points on the women’s side. The Bulldogs dominate on the 4K best list for the conference with five of the top ten times. Leading is Millie Bretl who holds the fastest 4K time in the MVC this season. Bretl was named MVC XC Athlete of the Week on 9/3 and continues to make an impact on the course. Fellow Junior Rachel Selva had the Bulldog’s best 6K time, while senior Olivia Rogers had the third-best team marks at both distances.

Evansville comes into this weekend’s championship with the fastest women’s 5k runner in the Missouri Valley this season. Anna Lowry tops the charts with the top time of 16:46.42 and continues shine each week, having won four consecutive individual titles this season. The purple aces had strong performances taking 1^st this year at the Austin Peay Cross Country Festival, 2^nd at the Fast Cats Classic and third at the UE Invitational. Alongside Lowry will be Haylee Harmeyer and Jenna Fehrenbacher; the fastest in the 5K for the Aces.

Under head coach Mike Staubel, Valparaiso’s lead runners are Katherine Germann, Alaina Carpenter and Taylor Justison. All three ran their season-best 5k times at the Joe Piane Invite in Notre Dame, Indiana.



Bradley was the coaches’ pick in first for the men’s pre-championship poll with 78 points. The Braves look to win their fifth consecutive MVC team championship at this Saturdays event with the help of Senior, Jack Hoffert who was an All-Conference Honoree in both 2017 (for his individual title) and 2018. Hoffert currently sits with the fastest 8K time in the Missouri Valley, while also recording three MVC Athlete of the Week nominations. Along Hoffert, Matthew Richtman (12^th) and Ben Potrykus (14^th) sit among the top 15 on the MVC 8K best list. The Braves have had a standout season going into this weekends event, taking 1^st in three different meets; The WIU Early Bird, the Bradley Intercollegiate and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. This powerhouse team has been ranked in the USTFCCCA Regional Poll every week since the start of the season and ended week six at number 8 in the Midwest Region.

Drake follows directly behind in the coach’s poll with 67 points. The Bulldogs have been strong competitors all season long taking second at the Hawkeye Invitational, third at both the Oz Memorial and Gans Creek Classic and rounded out the regular season with a first-place finish at the Bradley Pink Classic. Drake currently sits with four of the top-10 fastest times in the Missouri Valley this season for both the 6K and 8K. Freshman Adam Fogg, two-time MVC Athlete of the Week, holds the second fastest 8K time, while Senior Kyle Brandt sits directly behind him (third). In addition, Maximilian Fridrich (seventh) and freshman Isaac Basten (10^th) fill the remaining two slots for the Bulldogs in the top-10. Drake remains on the USTFCCCA Men’s Regional Poll for the Midwest each week with them finishing out week six ranked 12^th in the Midwest Region.

Loyola takes the third spot in the coaches poll with 61 points and is looking to win their first ever MVC XC Team Championship. The Ramblers had two back to back second place finishes at the Crusader Open followed by the Illinois State Invitational to start the season. Ranked 15^th in the USTFCCCA Regional Poll in week one, the Ramblers continue to trend upward climbing to the 13^th spot in the Midwest regional as of last week. Three Ramblers own places on the Valley’s top-10 list for the 8K; Derek Rink (fifth), Riley DeMeulenaere (eighth), and Ahkil Ghosh (ninth), while Blake Buysse sits just outside at 11^th.

Illinois State will enter the conference meet ranked fourth in the coaches poll with 56 points. The Redbirds will look to Jack Anstey, MVC Athlete of the Week recipient, to lead the way for the Redbirds. Anstey opened his season with a victory at the Illinois State Invite and in doing so, posted what would stand as the fourth best 8K time in the MVC this year. Running alongside Anstey will be Matt Blanco and Tyler Klouda,

Northern Iowa takes the fifth slot in the coaches poll with 40 points. Senior and 2018 All-Conference runner Wal Khat has paved the way for the Panthers this year, recording the Valley’s sixth best 8K time. Alongside Khat is CJ May who has the 13^th fastest 8K time in the MVC, followed by redshirt sophomore Drake Henrichs.

Indiana State comes into the 2019 MVC Championship ranked sixth with 37 points. Four of the top five Sycamores opened their season at Sunset Hills Farm Park for the Crusader Open where Noah Hufnagel, Nick Yeend, Isaac Bentz and Cale Kilian all set career-bests in the distance.

Ranked seventh in the coaches poll is Valparaiso with 35 points. The team is led by 2019 All-Conference returnee Alexander Bruno who tops the program’s all-time list for both the 8K and 10K. Running alongside Bruno will be Ignacio Veloz Bonilla, Jack Worman and Dominic Paoletti.  The Crusaders will look to finish off a strong season which saw them earn regionally-ranked status for the first time in program history after checking in at number 15 in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Poll last week.

Southern Illinois comes in eighth with 22 points. After graduating the MVC’s 2018 Athlete of the Year, Josh Maier, the Salukis will turn to Reid Parsons and Cain Hassim, who have led the team all year long. The Salukis have won 14 team championships with the last being 2013.  

Evansville will turn to Dawson Hood and Ricky Hendrix at this weekends Cross Country Championship. Both have had strong seasons and recorded the Purple Aces top two 8K times this season. Alongside Hood and Hendrix will be Stanley Chepchieng, who finished in the top three for the Aces in all five of their meets in addition to having the third fastest time in the 8K this season for their pack.