Perfect blend

The Southwestern Community College cross country team enters the 2012 season with a perfect blend of experience returners and a talented group of newcomers.

Head coach Bill Huntington feels confident with the six returners — three men and three women — he has coming back from last year's teams which both qualified for nationals.

"On the men's side, we have Dave Prchal, Kenny Blass and Adam Pool coming back," Huntington said. "Dave was all-region last year. He did a great job on a team that really had no upperclassmen. He's come in this summer and he's in shape. Kenny's done a good job for us. Adam (Orient) did a really good job last year getting used to cross country. He's made tremendous strides.

"Kalli McCann (Osceola) had a tremendous year. As a runner, that'd be the year you dream about," Huntington said. She was second team all-region. She won the Sauk Valley Invite — that's the first femal runner we've ever had win a meet. She was top 60 at nationals. Regina Hafner was running number two on the team last year until she got hurt. Hopefully we can keep her healthy. Our other returner is Delaney Turner, and she was all-region."

Talented newcomers

Joining that core group of six returners is what Huntington called "as solid of a group (of freshmen) as we've brought in."

Brei Theisen and Kristin Klocksiem join the team as freshmen this year, while sophomore Courtney Wagner, who also plays softball for SWCC, also joins the team.

"All three of them are about even, and I think all three of them are going to be contributors," Huntington said. "It's just going to be getting them used to the distance."

For the men, Rayvonne Brown, Auston Carter, Gage Beers (Osceola), Brandon Bergen, Josh Cobb, Brendon McGinnis and Nic Bacus form a solid group of freshmen.

"Rayvonne Brown, wow," Huntington said. "I know he ran a little bit in high school, but he's primarily an 800 runner. He's really come along. He's not really adjusted to the cross country distances, but still ran a 17:59. I was realy impressed with him. He's going to make a big impact."

Carter, Beers and Bergen also had strong outings in their first collegiate races Saturday at the Region XI Time Trial in Marshalltown.

"They've (the freshmen) have had some great practices," Huntington said. "We've just kind of got to get through the stiffness and soreness. Those guys are going to make a big impact."

With the blend of talent Huntington has on his roster, he feels that both teams should make return trips to nationals this year.

"I really think both our men and women have the capabilities to finish in the top four at regionals," Huntington said. "That says a lot when you have two teams that could compete for the national championship."

Time trial

The Spartans competed in the Region XI Time Trial Saturday in Marshalltown, kicking off the 2012 season.

McCann was the top finisher for the team, placing ninth in the women's race with a time of 20:50.73 over the 5-kilometer course.

"I was really impressed with Kalli," Huntington said. "For her to be that close with no speed work, I thought that was outstanding. I thought she did very well."

Hafner and Turner placed 33rd and 34th respectively, with Theisen finishing 42nd and Wagner rounding out the Spartan scoring by placing 45th. Klocksiem finished 48th.

The women finished fifth as a team with 141 points.

For the men, Prchal led the way by finishing 25th in 17:44. Brown ran an impressive first race by finishing 28th in 17:59.

Carter placed 35th with Beers placing 37th and Bergen finishing 42nd to round out scoring for the Spartans.

Cobb finished 45th, Bacus 47th, Blass 51st and Poole 54th for Southwestern.

"I was real excited about the men. We finished fourth. I thought we might come in fifth or sixth, and for them to jump up and finish fourth, if we can improve on that, I think we're going to be right there," Huntington said. "Dave ran a nice race — 17:44 right out of the shoot with no speedwork. Rayvonne was right behind him. He had so much left in the tank. He was cooking. I was really pleased — rough course, first meet, and we had six guys in the 18-minute mark. I thought that was pretty solid. I was very pleased with all the men."

Region XI Time Trial Results

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES

1. Iowa Central 18; 2. Iowa Western 58; 3. North Iowa Area CC 71; 4. Iowa Lakes CC 115; 5. Southwestern 141; 6. DMACC 151; 7. Marshalltown CC 219; 8. Indian Hills CC 234.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Fiona McKenna, IC, 19:53.73; 2. Jodi Miller, IC, 20:02.82; 3. Ebeissa Nyandwi, IC, 20:10.31; 4. Jessica Alvarez, IW, 20:27.49; 5. Laura Condron, IC, 20:33.77; 6. Stephanie Faught, NIACC, 20:34.43; 7. Cecil Kumalalamene, IC, 20:45.57; 8. Leah Courtney, IL, 20:47.60; 9. Kalli McCann, SWCC, 20:50.73; 10. Petrene Plummer, IW, 20:58.15.

Southwestern — 9. McCann, 20:50.73; 33. Regina Hafner, 24:11.11; 34. Delaney Turner, 24:34.81; 42. Brei Theisen, 26:58.11; 45. Courtney Wagner, 27:41.41; 48. Kristin Klocksiem, 30:40.47.

MEN'S TEAM SCORES

1. Iowa Western 34; 2. North Iowa Area CC 36; 3. Iowa Central 62; 4. Southwestern 141; 5. Iowa Lakes CC 172; 6. Indian Hills CC 194; 7. Marshalltown CC 200.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Trent Smith, NIACC, 16:01.94; 2. Cruz Barrera, IW, 16:09.85; 3. Andrew Costello, IC, 16:23.31; 4. Andre Hosey, IW, 16:28.46; 5. Jonny Worley, NIACC, 16:31.02; 6. Nick Fly, IW, 16:33.23; 7. Sapolai Yao, NIACC, 16:35.41; 8. Nate Carr, Marshalltown, 16:38.30; 9. Mason Powers, NIACC, 16:38.30; 10. Chase Hamilton, IW, 16:42.86.

Southwestern — 25. Dave Prchal, 17:44.87; 28. Rayvonne Brown, 17:59.55; 35. Auston Carter, 18:14.01; 37. Gage Beers, 18:23.62; 42. Brandon Bergen, 18:56.26; 45. Josh Cobb, 19:23.20; 47. Nic Bacus, 19:47.98; 51. Kenny Blass, 20:03.73; 54. Adam Pool, 20:39.78.

Roster

Freshmen — Rayvonne Brown, Davenport; Nic Bacus, Davenport; Josh Cobb, Panora; Auston Carter, Coon Rapids; Brandon Bergen, Red Oak; Brendon McGinnis, Earlham; Gage Beers, Osceola; Kristin Klocksiem, Glidden; Brei Theisen, Alton, Ill.

Sophomores — Kenny Blass, Guthrie Center; Dave Prchal, Omaha, Neb.; Adam Pool, Orient; Kalli McCann, Osceola; Regina Hafner, Panora; Delaney Turner, Panora; Courtney Wagner, Ottumwa.

Schedule

Sept. 1 — Waubonsee Invitational, 10 a.m.

Sept. 8 — Les Duke Invitational, 10 a.m.

Sept. 21 — Viking Invitational, 5 p.m.

Oct. 6 — Lamb KoHawk Invite, TBA

Oct. 13 — Sauk Valley Invite, 10:30 a.m.

Oct. 26 — Region XI Championships, 10 a.m.

Nov. 10 — NJCAA Championships, TBA