11.14.09 - Men's Cross Country Earns At-Large
Berth to NCAA Championships
Manchester College's men's cross country team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Cross Country championships following their third place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday. Manchester travels to Highland Heights, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 21 where they will compete on Highland Heights (OH) Golf Course, the site for the NCAA Championships. For meet information, visit host Baldwin-Wallace's information page from the link above.

11.14.09 - WIILIAMS NATIONAL QUALIFIER, SPARTAN MEN PLACE THIRD AT NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL AND REMAIN AT-LARGE, WOMEN PLACE 8TH
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Manchester's cross country teams took part in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Baldwin-Wallace with the men taking third out of 36 teams and the women finishing 8th out of 36 teams.

On the men's side, Andy Williams finished third overall with a time of 25:54 in the 8k race and is MC's lone automatic qualifier and returns to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.

Braden Nelson finished 11th overall with a time of 26:14 while Kyle Pletcher finished 28th with a time of 26:42. Williams, Pletcher and Nelson were named All-Region for finishing in the top 35.

On the women's side, Jessi Bremer finished 28th overall with a time of 23:22 and was named to the All-Regioin team. Megan Miller finished 44th with a time of 23:51 and Meredith Cors finished 53rd in 24:07.

The men remain an at-large team for a berth in the NCAA team championship, as the regional takes the top two teams as automatic qualifiers and the following three are at-large. Individually the selection committee will take the top seven runners outside national qualifying teams. The NCAA will make their selections on Sunday afternoon.

10.31.09 - MANCHESTER MEN AND WOMEN TAKE HCAC CHAMPIONSHIPS, WILLIAMS REPEATS AS MEN'S CONFERENCE CHAMPION
Manchester's men's and women's cross country teams claimed the team titles at the HCAC Championships hosted by Mount St. Joseph on Saturday. The men last won a conference championship in 1963 while the women won their first conference title since 1987.

Senior Andy Williams repeated as conference individual champion for the second straight year, winning the race in 26:34. Kyle Pletcher (26:38), Braden Nelson (26:45) and Alec Womboldt (26:52) placed second, third and fourth respectively, narrowly missing the sweep of the top five places. Cole Jackson rounded out the top five with an 11th place finish in 27:19.

In the women's race, Jessi Bremer placed third overall with a time of 24:02, trailing Franklin's Heather Waterman who won the event in 23:29 and Melissa Rogers of Rose-Hulman who was second in 23:46. MC's Megan Miller took fifth place in 24:14, followed by Ashley Kopla in 24:41, Tiffany Alva in 10th with a time of 24:45 and Meredith Cors, who was 13th in 25:07 to round out the top five.

Taking home All-Conference honors for Manchester were Jessica Bremer, Megan Miller, Ashley Kopla and Tiffany Alva. Katherine Pea was named Honorable Mention and Head Coach Brian Cashdollar was named Conference Coach of the Year.

For the men, Andy Williams, Kyle Pletcher, Braden Nelson, Alec Womboldt, Cole Jackson and Calvin Cook were named First Team All-Conference. Kerry Nielsen was named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference team.

Manchester competes next at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by Rose-Hulman on Saturday, November 14th.



10.17.09 - SPARTAN MEN AND WOMEN TAKE TEAM TITLE AT MC INVITE
Manchester's men's cross country team, currently ranked 33rd in the national polls, and the women's cross country team returned to action on Saturday, winning the team titles in both divisions at the Manchester Invitational.

Senior Andy Williams was the individual champion in the men's division, winning the 8k event in 26:02. Braden Nelson finished third with a time of 26:18, followed by Alec Womboldt in fourth with a 26:28, Kyle Pletcher took eighth in 26:49 and Cole Jackson placed 11th in 27:02.

Jessi Bremen placed second overall to lead Manchester, finishing the 6k course in 23:20. Tiffany Alfa was sixth in 24:02, Megan Miller placed eighth in 24:09, Ashley Kopla was 18th in 24:53 and Meredith Cors took 20th in 25:01 to round out the top five for Manchester.

MC returns to action Oct. 31 as they travel to Mount St. Joseph for the HCAC Championships.

10.10.09 - MEN TAKE SECOND, WOMEN EIGHTH AT PRE-REGIONAL
Manchester's cross country team returned to action Saturday at the Pre-Regional Meet hosted by Rose-Hulman. The men took second out of 14 teams while the women placed eighth out of 15 schools.

Andy Williams led the men with a third place finish in a time of 26:02, Braden Nelson took sixth overall in 26:25 and Kyle Pletcher placed 19th in 26:49. Alec Womboldt placed 26th and Calvin Cook took 28th as both runners finished in 26:59 to round out the top five for MC.

Jessi Bremer was the top place winner for Manchester, finishing 18th overall in 24:03. Megan Miller was 38th in 24:44, followed by Ashley Kopla, 47th in 25:02, Tiffany Alva, 48th place in 25:02 and Meredith Cors, who placed 62nd in 25:38.

Manchester returns home on Saturday as they host the annual Manchester Invitational starting at 10 a.m. Fans and spectators are encouraged to wear pink as the Spartans are hosting a Pink Out Day, to help raise awareness for breast cancer research.

9.23.09 - MANCHESTER MEN RANKED FOURTH IN REGIONAL POLLS, 34TH IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Coming off their first place finish at the Indiana Intercollegiate Little State meet on Friday, Manchester's men's cross country team moved up five spots to fourth in the Great Lakes Regional ranking, administered by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Spartans also moved into the national ranking for the first time this year, ranking 34th overall, tied with Tufts. For a complete ranking list, click here.

9.18.09 - WILLIAMS FIRST PLACE AT LITTLE STATE HELPS SPARTANS TO TEAM TITLE
Manchester College junior Andy Williams took first at the Little State division of the Indiana Intercollegiates on Friday, hosted by Indiana State University.

Williams finished the race in 26:00, edging out Rose-Hulman's Tyler Kreipke by three tenths of a second. Braden Nelson took third for the spartans in a time of 26:09, followed by Kyle Pletcher who was fifth in 26:15, Alec Womboldt was 10th with a time of 26:56 and Calvin Cook rounded out the top five with a 30th place finish in 27:52.

The women placed seventh overall, led by Jessi Bremer, who took seventh place individually with a time of 19:32. Megan Miller took 26th, finishing in 20:35. Ashley Kopla placed 44th in 21:17, Tiffany Alva was 53rd in 21:44 and Katherine Pea took 56th in 21:48.

Manchester returns to action October 10th at the Pre-regional Invitational hosted by Rose-Hulman.

9.12.09 - MANCHESTER MEN SECOND, WOMEN FOURTH AT BOWLING GREEN INVITE
Manchester's men's cross country team took second out of five Division III schools while the women placed fourth of out of five teams at the Bowling Green Invite.

For the men, Andy Williams finished third in the D III division with a time of 25:49. Kyle Pletcher was fifth with a time of 25:38, followed by Braden Nelson in sxith in 25:42, Alex Womboldt in ninth with at ime of 26:06 and Calvin Cook finished in 18th with a time of 26:33.

In the women's race, Jessi Bremer placed fifth in 19:19, Tiffany Alva was 12th in 19:52, Ashley Kopla was 24th in 20:49, Katherine Pea was 25th in 21:02 and Emma Weiler was 28th with at ime of 21:34.

Manchester returns to action at the Indiana Intercollegiate Meet on Friday, hosted by Indiana State.

9.1.09 - MANCHESTER PLACES FIRST IN TEAM STANDINGS AT THE MC HOKEM KAREM INVITE
Manchester's men's and women's cross country team took first out of four teams at the Hokem Karem Invite, hosted by Manchester College.

In the women's race, the team of Jessi Bremer and Jessica Boursier took second with a time of 37:22, Megan Miller and Megan Hammel took third overall with a time of 38:16, while Tiffany Alva and Katherine Pea finished fourth, finishing the race in 38:28. Ashley Kopla and Emma Weiler combined for a sixth place finish with a time of 38:37.

In the men's race, the duo of Braden Nelson and Calvin Cook finished second overall with a time of 51:11, Kyle Pletcher and Kerry Nielsen finished third with a time of 51:35 while Andy Williams and Josh Miller took fourth overall with a time of 52:00. Alec Womboldt and Cole Jackson finished sixth in 52:52 to lead MC.

Manchester returns to action Saturday, September 12 at the Bowling Green Invite.

8.23.09 - SPARTAN CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS RECEIVE PRESEASON RECOGNITION
Manchester's men's and women's cross country teams were selected by the HCAC cross country coaches as the favorite for the 2009 season, while the men's team also was ranked 9th in the Great Lakes Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The women's cross country team received five of the nine first place votes in the HCAC Preseason poll, just edging out Franklin who received four first place votes. A strong class returns, led by six All-Conference performers from last season, when MC took second in the HCAC Championship. Leading the pack will be Junior Jessi Bremer, who placed second in the conference last season.

The men return senior Andy Williams, who was named HCAC Most Outstanding Runner last year after winning the individual title at the conference meet.

In the preseason conference poll, Manchester received six of the nine first place votes. The Spartan men return three All-Conference runners this season.

Manchester opens its season at home on Tuesday, Sept. 1 as they host the Hokem Karem run.