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SMU Invite Sat., Sept. 3, 2005 |
 Invitational |
Women's results Men's results |
Healthy Koranda blows away field in guiding SMU women to title
Determined to make her senior year one to remember, Koranda entered Saturday's SMU Invitational pain free — which was good news for the Cardinals, but bad news for the rest of the 79 runners.
Koranda gave coach Ward Berndt and everyone else in attendance a glimpse at what she is capable of doing when running at 100 percent, as the senior dominated the competition, winning the women's individual title with a 5-kilometer time of 20:59.
"I'm ecstatic," said Koranda, who bested runner Heidi Inabnit of Winona State by 26 seconds in leading the Cardinals to the team title. "I have never won a cross country meet, not in high school, not in college, and to win this one — the last home meet of my collegiate career — is pretty special."
Koranda's first-place effort, coupled with a third- and four-place showing from teammates Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn. / 21:36) and Kate Boisjolie (Austin, Minn. / 21:45), fueled SMU to the team title. The Cardinals finished with 28 points, besting runner-up Luther by 17. Winona State took third with 97 points, followed by UW-Superior (97), Northwestern (127) and Crown (182).
"I knew we'd have a good shot at placing pretty high, but I never expected us to come away with first place," said Berndt. "Ellen ran a great race and kind of set the tone for us. It was a phenomenal overall performance from everyone.
"If we are going to be successful, that's going to be the key — getting solid performances from all our runners."
Sarah Zweber (Elko, Minn.) placed sixth overall for SMU, stopping the clock in 21:55, while Kim Koecheler (St. Paul, Minn. / 22:27) and Ashley Davis (Hugo, Minn. / 23:30) rounded out the Cardinals' top six.
Luther brought home the men's title, putting all seven of its top runners in the top 10. The Norse finished with 25 points to easily outdistance runner-up UW-Superior (67 points). Northwestern was third (91), followed by Winona State (109), Saint Mary's (160) and Crown (167).
Andrew Rath (Hillsborough, N.J.) led the way for the Cardinals, placing 26th overall with a four-mile time of 26:31. Steve Adams (Roseville, Minn.) chipped in a time of 26:50), while Gary Borash (Bowlus, Minn. / 26:54), Martin Howard (Chicago, Ill. / 27:00) and Mike Marek (Winona, Minn. / 28:50) rounded out SMU's top five.
"Today was a learning experience for our guy's team," said Berndt, noting that four of SMU's six runners were freshmen competing in their first collegiate meet. "Our goal was to get that first meet under out belts. We weren't concerned as much about where we finished as a team, we just wanted to go out and get a feel for what it's like out there.
"Overall, I'm very pleased with the day."