Truman Index

Ratermann and Dell’Orco lead pack

Published: Thursday, September 2, 2010

Updated: Thursday, September 2, 2010 01:09

As the cross country teams lace up for a new season, the women's team searches for depth while the men's team looks for some consistency throughout this season.

Last year, the women finished third in the South Central Region, barely missing the chance to advance to nationals. However, Dani Dell'Orco and Anne Ratermann both qualified individually for the national meet as sophomores.

Dell'Orco and Ratermann return to anchor this year's team which was voted the No. 1 team in the MIAA and No. 15 in the nation in the coaches preseason poll. Sophomores Cindy and Karen Grauel likely will run in the third and fourth spots, but the fifth, sixth and seventh spots remain a mystery.

"We need a lot of people, not just one or two," head coach John Cochrane said. "We need to work on our depth. That kind of caught us in the end in the regionals last year."

Several runners are in contention for those last few spots. However, nobody has secured one yet. It might take a few meets before any of the contenders are awarded the open positions on a regular basis.

"It's been changing from week to week," Dell'Orco said. "It will come down to the first few meets. We seem to be strong, and those are vital, vital spots. I'm excited to see who steps up to the plate."

One runner who could step in and help right away is freshman Katie Hirsh.

"Hirsh, I think, will do pretty well," Cochrane said. "She's a little bit like the Grauel's were last year. We need her to do well and we need the older people to step up and do some things."

The Bulldogs also return seniors Amanda Brown and Kylie Raithel, who also will be in the mix for the last remaining spots.

Junior Michelle Gronemeyer scored often for the 'Dogs in 2009, but she is studying abroad this fall.

"I would love to see the team qualify for nationals," Dell'Orco said. "I think it's something we can do."

The men's team is focusing on consistency this season. There are 15 runners, and any of them could contribute at a given meet.

"Every meet we've got to get seven clocks to chime at once," coach Tim Schwegler said. "I think we've got a little depth, so if one guy does have a bad day some other guys can take their place, and we won't be set back very much. If we can do that, I think we'll have a good season."

Last season the Bulldogs did well through the first four meets, finishing in the top five in each of them. However, a virus derailed their hopes for nationals.

"At the regional meet, the H1N1 flu hit us," Schwegler said. "So it was a very disappointing end. But we had a real good first two-thirds of the season, and we're hoping to improve on that."  

Truman has not let last year's finish slow them down. The team quickly put it behind them and started working toward this season, which included a workout for the summer.  

"I think they did their summer running," Schwegler said. "That's like doing homework before going to class. If you don't do your homework, it's not a good deal in cross country."

Junior Joey Walls comes back as the top runner for the Bulldogs. He had three top 10 finishes last year. Also returning are seniors Zach Chapman, Bob Gorman, Adam Kell, Alex Phillips and John Venner.  

The men's team was ranked No. 8 in the conference by the MIAA coaches. That does not concern Schwegler.

"A lot of that is probably based on how we finished last year," Schwegler said. "I think we're a lot better team. It depends on how well the seniors step up and take charge for us to compete."

Missouri Southern University is the consensus top team in the conference. University of Central Missouri and Pittsburg State University are also among the top teams, but the Bulldogs should be in the next group of teams, Schwegler said.

"After [the top three] I think we can run with everybody," Schwegler said.

Both teams will open the season Sept. 11 at the Les Duke Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa.

"It's a good starter meet for us this year," Schwegler said. "We like the course, and the kids like going there. I think everyone's looking forward to it."

But neither team should be in midseason form during that opening meet. The Bulldogs want to be ready for a national run later in the year.

"If you're ready in the second week of September, then you probably won't still be alive in November," Cochrane said.

The Bulldogs hope to be alive and well in November and even December, when the national meet is run.

Recommended: Articles that may interest you

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article! Log in to Comment

You must be logged in to comment on an article. Not already a member? Register now

Log In

• E-mail:
• Password:

Take the Index's Oscar poll!

• Make your picks for this year's Academy Award winners

• Most Popular
• Latest Comment
Most Popular
• Marijuana legalization could benefit economy, reduce debt
• Super Bowl acts as cultural religious event
• Puff, puff, pass?
• Armed suspect reported outside Hy-Vee
• Birth control recalled
• Teaching the art of cuisine
• Trendy combination leads to heart strain, dehydration
• Paino addresses budget at University meeting
• Men sit on the womens bench
Latest Comment
• Immigration bill meets opposition
  "The Equal Protection Clause in the 14th amendment guarantees equal protection of law to any person within the state's jurisdiction, not specifically legal citizens."

  Actually, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees, according to Supreme Court jurisprudence, equal protection of the law for people similarly situated. The US and state tax codes are a case in point; hugely different tax burdens based on income, source of income, deductions, etc., etc. If the Constitution really did require what is claimed above, once someone was able to get to the US, they would be no different than a US citizen as far as the law was concerned. That clearly is not the case, nor should it be!

  In Plyler v. Doe, one of the rationals for this wrongly held decisions was that the Court, found, "... while the "exclusion of all undocumented children from the public schools in Texas would eventually result in economies at some level," ... funding from both the State and Federal Governments was based primarily on the number of children enrolled. In net effect, then, barring undocumented children from the schools would save money, but it would "not necessarily" improve "the quality of education. The court further observed that the impact of {the Texas law} was borne primarily by a very small subclass of illegal aliens."

  Assuming the Court was correct in 1982, which I do not, that the cost to taxpayers was negligible and the numbers of illegal alien children in K12 school was very small and their impact on the quality of education had little or no consequence, it's clearly not correct today. The number of children is huge, the costs in dollars is astronomical and the negative impact on the quality of education for the children of American citizens is likewise huge.

  The purpose of these laws, in part, is to gather irrefutable evidence of the terrible consequences to the American people and their children of the wrongly held Plyler v. Doe decision so that it maybe overturned. Of course the amnesty open borders crowd will fight tooth and nail to block any and all efforts to quantify the extent, costs, and all other consequences of illegal aliens and their children in our country.

  Make no mistake, massive immigration, legal and illegal, is not a partisan political issue. Both the Democratic and Republican parties not only support it but have passed the laws to effectuate it. They both talk about it from the perspective of their special interests, but neither has or will do anything to stop it until their election to office is sufficiently threatened.

  That is why the voters of this country must make it clear that their vote first and foremost is conditioned on the removal of all illegal aliens and the drastic reduction of legal immigration.

  posted by: Paul Cartier