The Missouri Valley Conference today released its 2008 Pre-Championship poll.  Missouri State received 91 points (7 first-place votes) and is the coaches’ choice as the team to beat in Saturday’s championship race at the MSU Cross Country Facility.  The Bears are looking for their first team title at the conference championship since 2004.  Missouri State has yet to lose a meet at their home facility, finishing first in the last two Missouri State Classics.

Led by sophomore Pasca Cheruiyot, the Bears have finished ahead of second-place Wichita State (89 points, 2 first-place votes) at the two meets in which they faced off this season.  Cheruiyot has set the Missouri State school 6K record twice this season and owns the 5K record for the championship course.

Missouri State also features senior Jamie Vest and freshman Terry Phillips, both of whom are expected to battle in the top-10 Saturday.  Both Vest and Phillips ran personal bests at the Chile Pepper Festival on October 18.

Wichita State, chosen second in both the pre-season and pre-championship polls, has won the last three conference championships.  Senior Kellyn Johnson paced the Shockers at every meet she participated in this season. 

Wichita State’s other top runners include junior Olivia Martinez, senior Kimber Lemon, and junior Irene Kosgei.  Martinez finished fifth in leading the Shockers to a second-place finish at the Missouri State Classic.

Southern Illinois (74) garnered the final first-place vote.  Junior A’Seret Dokubo and sophomores Megan Hoelscher and Emily Toennis give the Salukis a solid top three.  All three have battled to lead the Salukis to three team titles this season.  Hoelscher and Toennis finished 3-4 in the Saluki Invitational, while Dokubo led SIU to a team victory at the UE Invitational.

Illinois State ranks fourth (66) in the pre-championship poll.  The Redbirds feature sophomores Jess Husted and Kirsten Lang.  Husted finished second in the Illini Open giving the Redbirds the title and Lang came in eighth at the Illinois Intercollegiate leading Illinois State to a second-place finish.

UNI garnered 65 points in the pre-championship poll, just behind Illinois State.  The Panthers are led by senior Caedryn Schrunk, who won the Hawkeye Invitational, Lamb-Kohawk Invitational and the Bradley Classic this season.  Two freshmen burst onto the scene for the Panthers this season with Carly Olsen and Danielle Nowasell finishing 2-3 at the Lamb-Kohawk Invitational to give the Panthers the team title.

Indiana State (56) senior Heather Stembridge won the Bradley Open for the Sycamores and was the lead runner in all of Indiana State’s races.

Senior Nicole Braunsdorf won the Bulldog Classic and paced Drake (49) to a fourth-place finish at the Bradley Classic.  Sophomore Casey McDermott led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the Pepperdine Invitational.

Bradley (28) junior Rachel Brubaker won the Early Bird Invitational for the Braves, while sophomore Mary Goldkamp finished eighth in the Bradley Open.

Junior Molly Jergenson led the Bluejays (16) in every race this season, including winning the individual title at the Reiver Run in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Evansville (16) placed third at the Tennessee Tech Invitational after junior Melissa Truex finished seventh overall for the Purple Aces.

2008 MVC Women’s Pre-Championship Poll
Rank    Team (1st-place votes)                    Points
1          MISSOURI STATE (7)                             91
2          Wichita State (2)                                     89
3          Southern Illinois (1)                                  74
4          Illinois State                                            66
5          UNI                                                         65
6          Indiana State                                           56
7          Drake                                                     49
8          Bradley                                                   28
T9        Creighton                                                16
T9        Evansville                                                16

On the men’s side, Southern Illinois leads the men’s teams into Saturday’s meet picked first in the pre-championship poll with eight first-place votes and 80 points.  The Salukis have even received votes in the USTFCCCA National poll in recent weeks.  SIU has five solid runners in junior Jeff Schirmer, sophomore Dan Dunbar, junior Jason Ordway, senior Mark Bowman, and sophomore Kyle Kirchner. 

Schirmer won three of the four meets in which he raced.  He took the individual title in the SIU Early Bird, EIU Panther Open, and the Saluki Open.  It was Schirmer’s second win in the EIU Panther Open in as many years.

Dunbar took the individual title at the UE Invitational, pacing the Salukis to a sweep of the team titles at the meet.  Kirchner, Ordway, and Bowman finished 2-3-4, all finishing within five seconds of Dunbar in the event.

Illinois State (72) received the other first-place vote and was chosen second by the coaches in both the pre-season and pre-championship polls.  The Redbirds are led by sophomore Matt Mroczynski and junior Scott Krapf. 

Mroczynski paced the Redbirds at the NCAA Pre-Nationals while setting a personal best time.  Krapf finished fourth at the Illinois Intercollegiate giving the Redbirds a second-place team finish. 

Indiana State (63) ranks third in the coaches’ poll and are led by juniors Scott Keeney and Eric Schulz.  Keeney took the individual title at the Bradley Open giving the Sycamores the men’s and women’s individual and both team titles at the event.  Teammate Eric Schulz paced Indiana State to a second-place finish at the Indiana Intercollegiate.  Schulz and Keeney battled all season with Schulz edging Keeney by one second twice in as many races.

Senior Leyden Tolhurst leads Drake (53) to the fourth place ranking in the pre-championship poll.  Tolhurst paced the Bulldogs to a tie for the team title at the Pepperdine Invitational finishing fourth in the men’s race.

Wichita State senior Scott Reed leads the Shockers (46).  Reed finished fifth at the Missouri State Classic leading the Shockers to a third-place finish.  Reed also finished 16th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals.

UNI (30) finished second at the Lamb-Kohawk Invitational thanks to senior Mike Clancy.  Clancy led the Panthers with a third-place individual finish. 

Sophomore Andrew Wieser leads the Bradley Braves (21) to the seven spot in the poll.  Wieser began the season finishing second at the Early Bird Invitational in Macomb, Ill., missing out on the individual title by one second.

Freshman Chris Culhane has made a big impact for Creighton (20) this season.  Culhane enters today having led the Bluejays in every race this season.  He finished second at the Reiver Run leading Creighton to the team title.

Evansville junior Greg Pulscher leads the Purple Aces (19).  Pulscher placed second in back-to-back meets at the Earl Jacoby Memorial and the Tennessee Tech Invitational giving Evansville the team title in Tenn.

2008 MVC Pre-Championship Poll
Rank    Team (1st-place votes)                    Points
1          Southern Illinois (8)                                  80
2          Illinois State (1)                                       72
3          Indiana State                                           63
4          Drake                                                     53
5          Wichita State                                          46
6          UNI                                                        30
7          Bradley                                                  21
8          Creighton                                               20
9          Evansville                                               19

The State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship will be held at the MSU Cross Country Facility on Saturday, November 1.  The first race will begin at 12 p.m.  For a complete spectator guide, please visit www.bearstrack.net/mvc08.