Schedule | Roster | Stats | Gallery | Signings | All-KCAC Honors
It would be a young squad of Bulldogs heading off over the hills and following the trails as the 2005 cross country season opened.
With the men’s squad made up of one senior, two sophomores, and four freshmen, the Bulldogs were going to be able to field a scoring team plus one, if everyone could stay healthy. But, that margin for error disappeared as sophomore Andrew Paull wasn’t able to completely from a summer illness and was lost for the season.
From day one, freshmen Toland Lichty and Brent Bailey were at the front of the Bulldogs’ pack along with sophomore Jacob Merrick. Senior Bryan Grosbach was nursing an Achilles injury, yet provided the positive leadership wanted from an upper classman. Freshmen Ben Cole and Brent Caswell rounded out the squad.
In their season opener run at Lake Afton, Lichty led the way for the Bulldogs with a 26th place finish in the Friends Invitational. Bailey finished 29th in what would be his season best time of 28:55.4. This was the one meet the men would fail to compete as a scoring team, being without Caswell, still recovering from a knee problem entering the season, and Grosbach failing to finish.
Week two gave the Bulldogs the opportunity to set a standard to compare to later in the season as they hosted the McPherson Invitational on the hills of Rolling Acres, north of McPherson. As he would in all but one meet, Lichty was the first Bulldog home, finished sixth. Merrick moved into the Bulldogs’ #2 spot with a 13th place finish, and Bailey finished just out of the medals in 18th. As a team, McPherson finished fourth.
Year in and year out, the Tabor Invitational has been the site of many seasonal and personal bests. Surprisingly, and indicative that the Lake Afton course may have been short of its listed 8-kilometers, no Bulldogs ran season bests, but several were close to their Lake Afton times as again Lichty, Merrick and Bailey led the way, each placing in the top 15. Brent Caswell was finally able to join the team in competition, giving the Bulldogs a one-runner cushion.
The Oklahoma State University “Cowboy Jamboree” is one of the largest meets in the Midwest, and threw the Bulldogs into their largest race of the season. With over 222 runners in the field, this was an eye opening experience for the young Bulldog squad. Again, Lichty led the way, finishing in the top half of the field while Bryan Grosbach and Brent Caswell both ran new season bests.
The Kansas Wesleyan Invitational gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to again compete close to home, and the environment was just what the Bulldogs needed as they finished second in the team race, led by Lichty’s fifth place while Ben Cole and Grosbach again notched season bests.
With the conference meet two weeks away, McPherson traveled to Winfield for the Southwestern College Mid-States Classic on what would two weeks later be the conference championship course. The squad had pointed at this and the KCAC Championships as the time to peak, and Lichty, Merrick, Grosbach, Caswell, and Cole did just that.
The final weekend of October and after a week off from racing, McPherson was back in Winfield for the conference meet. Going in, the Bulldogs believed they were in the team battle for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. With Lichty (12th), Merrick (13th), and Bailey (15th) placing in the top 15 and earning All-KCAC honors, the Bulldogs finished 4th overall, with a 28-point improvement over 2004. Again, Lichty (28:18.8), Merrick (28:26.6), Grosbach (31:13.8), and Caswell (31:39.6) ran new season bests.
With the rearrangement of the NAIA’s Region IV, McPherson was asked to host the Region Championships. Eight full teams from 13 schools competed, with one team and five individual spots in the NAIA National Championships on the line. While no season bests were run, with the 45 seconds to 1 minute difference due to the difficulty of the Rolling Acres course, all five Bulldogs finishing ran their “season best”.
With the women’s squad made up of only three freshmen, short of the necessary five scoring runners for team placings, the ladies knew they would spend 2005 competing only for individual honors. All three would miss at least one early season meet due to various injuries. Running the collegiate 5-kilometer distance for the first time, Ashley Mitchell would be the first Lady Bulldog to finish when she and Megan Meyer competed in the Friends Invitational.
For the McPherson Invitational, it was LeAnne Schmidt in and Mitchell out, and this time Schmidt led Meyer home.
The Tabor Invitational was Meyer’s time to lay out while both Schmidt (3:24) and Mitchell (1:41) significantly dropped their previous 5km times. Schmidt’s 16th place finish, just missed medaling and would be the best among the Lady Bulldogs in 2005.
The following week, Meyer would come back to run the first of four consecutive season bests at the Oklahoma State Jamboree, following Mitchell across the line in the 214 runner field as Schmidt missed the meet due to family obligations.
Finally in week five at the KWU Invitational, all three Lady Bulldogs would be on the course at the same time. With Schmidt leading the way in 18th place, Meyer ran another SB just ahead of Mitchell.
Beginning their taper toward the KCAC meet, Schmidt (21:12.0) and Meyer notched season bests on what would be the KCAC championship course in two weeks as part of the 194-woman field at the Southwestern College Mid-States Classic.
The final Saturday in October sent the Lady Bulldogs back to Winfield for the conference meet and while Schmidt led the way in 23rd place, Mitchell (22:55.8) and Meyer (23:31.7) both posted their season best times.
Like the Bulldog men, none of the Lady Bulldogs were able to post a season best mark in the Region IV meet hosted by McPherson College on the hilly Rolling Acres course. As she had in each of her six races during the season, LeAnne Schmidt was the first Lady Bulldog to cross the finish line. Even without taking off the 1 to 1 ½ minutes for course difficulty, Ashley Mitchell ran her best race of the season and Megan Meyer showed a 2-minute improvement over her earlier tour of the Rolling Acres course.
