Cross Country

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Tholen, Wetering, Clay and Schuck Receive Cross Country Honors 

Jillian Tholen of Augustana and Tyler Wetering of South Dakota have been named the Outstanding Athletes for their efforts at the North Central Conference Cross Country Championships held October 21 in Vermillion, S.D. while Dick Clay of North Dakota and Mark Schuck of Minnesota State have been named the North Central Conference Cross Country Coaches of the Year.

Both athletes won the NCC Championship. Tholen, a freshman from Tracy, Minn., covered the 6K course in 22:04.30 and helped lead Augustana to a runnerup finish, 17 points behind champion North Dakota. Wetering, a senior from Sioux Falls, S.D., toured the men's 8K course in 25:10.56 and led South Dakota to a fifth-place finish. Wetering is the second consecutive USD runner to claim the individual crown. Minnesota State claimed its third consecutive NCC men's cross country title.

Clay led the North Dakota women's cross country team to its fifth North Central Conference title, but the first since 2001. The Fighting Sioux outdistanced second-place Augustana 44 to 61. It is the fourth time that Clay has won the award (previously in 1992, 1994 and 2001).

Schuck guided the Mavericks to their third consecutive NCC title. MSU was 15 points better than Minnesota Duluth in the team championship and had all seven runners in the top 19. It is the fourth time overall and third consecutive time that Schuck has been honored by his peers with the other laurels coming in 1999, 2004 and 2005.