Crusaders Edged Out for Mid-Con Championship; Rolf Breaks Own School Record, Leads Five All-Conference Honorees
Rolf covered the six-kilometer course in 20:45.35, knocking five more seconds off of her own record at the distance, which she set two weeks ago at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Rolf finished less than four seconds out of first place, and less than a second behind the runner-up. She becomes the first Valpo runner since Tami Long in 1998-1999 to earn first team All Mid-Con accolades in consecutive seasons.
Ashley Billstrom (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall) was the next Crusader to cross the line, finishing eighth with a time of 22:34.05, good for second team All-Conference accolades. Billstrom improved 16 spots on her finish at last year's conference meet.
Joining Billstrom on the second team was senior Danielle Nunnelly (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso), whose time of 23:03.38 was good for ninth place. Nunnelly registered a top-10 finish in each of her four Mid-Con Championship meets, and becomes the first Crusader runner to be a four-time All-Conference honoree.
Not to be outdone, Rachael Button (Farmington, Mich./Farmington) and Renae Swift (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) both earned second team All Mid-Con accolades as well. Button crossed the line in 23:18.30 for a 12th place finish, while Swift was right behind her in 13th with a time of 23:22.87, a personal best over 6K. The five All-Conference honorees marks the most for a single Mid-Con squad since the 2003 Southern Utah team had five runners honored.
Oral Roberts edged out the Crusaders for the team title, 42-45, tying for the closest margin of victory in Championship history. The Golden Eagles' Diana Chelimo captured individual top honors with her time of 20:41.54.
Valpo will be back in action in two weeks on Saturday, November 11 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Bowling Green, Ohio. The six-kilometer race is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
