Cedarville College
Yellow Jackets
1999 Men's Cross Country
Season Outlook
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| Steve Wakefield |
A combination of experienced upperclassmen and talented newcomers can produce optimism for any team no matter the sport. The Cedarville College men's cross country program appears to have that type of mix for the 1999 season.
While the Yellow Jackets graduated their top runner from a year ago, head coach Elvin King welcomes back five of his top seven from a squad that was rated as high as 17th in the NAIA. Cedarville is ranked No. 23 entering this season which is exactly where they placed in the 1998 NAIA National Meet.
"We believe we have the talent that could possibly make this team better than last year's," King predicted. "We have more depth and there is no replacement for experience. It will be exciting to see what happens."
The lone senior on the roster is Scott Ruhlman, who is in his fourth year in the program. He is an NAIA and NCCAA All-America Scholar-Athlete, and had a season-low time of 27:38 for the 8,000 meters.
Joining Ruhlman as captains are juniors Ken Loescher and Steve Wakefield. Loescher was among the Jackets top seven finishers in all ten meets last fall and he was the team's number two finisher at the NAIA. His best time was 26:43.
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| Jody Fox |
Wakefield gained a spot on the American Mideast Conference Team after placing seventh in the league meet in 26:46. He was in Cedarville's top four finishers in all but one meet with a season-low effort of 26:33.
Two other juniors, Eddie Nehus and Matt Hadler, will solidify the lineup. Nehus is in his third season and is an NAIA All-American in the outdoor 800 meters. Hadler runs his first season of cross country after joining the track program last spring.
Sophomore Jody Fox hopes to build on his rookie season in which he was All-AMC Honorable Mention. He produced a 26:14 time in the Friendship Invitational where he was the team's top runner and placed seventh overall.
Sophomores Dan Plaatje and Justin Gerber are back and fellow classmates John Erickson and Jason Gray are new to the program. The freshmen list includes Alan Bruder, Adam Hall, Josh Mark, Drew Nelson, and Justin Whitaker.
Cedarville hosts three meets at John Bryan State Park this fall. The Friendship Invitational will be on September 25, the American Mideast Conference Championship is on November 6, and the NCCAA Nationals takes place on November 13.
