St. Olaf junior Grant Wintheiser - who won his second-straight individual MIAC title Saturday - was named the MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete-of-the-Year and Ole Head Coach Phil Lundin was voted the MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year by his peers. This marks the second-straight year Wintheiser and Lundin have won their respective awards.
Both Winthesier and his team were incredibly impressive at Saturday's championship race at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. The St. Olaf junior completed the 8k course in 24:48.9, defeating teammate Jake Brown by 16 seconds and earning his second-straight MIAC individual title. Wintheiser became just the ninth MIAC men's runner to win back-to-back titles and 11th to win the race more than once. Next season, he'll have a chance to become just the second runner ever to win the MIAC individual title in three-straight seasons, and the third to claim three titles during his career.
Wintheiser's 2013 time was almost exactly 20 seconds faster than his winning time in 2012 (25:08.1). Now, the Ole junior has finished in the top six and earned All-MIAC honors in each of his three collegiate seasons. Wintheiser adds his 2013 MIAC Athlete-of-the-Year award to another outstanding fall, which included the MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete-of-the-Week honor on Sept. 24.
Lundin - now in his sixth season at St. Olaf - guided the Oles to their second MIAC Championship in a row, and their sixth men's cross country title overall. This is Lundin's second-straight MIAC Men's Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year honor, and his third overall after also winning in 2008. He was also named the MIAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Coach-of-the-Year in March, in addition to four Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year awards during his tenure at the University of Minnesota.
Full list of men's All Conference awards is HERE.
St. Olaf freshman Noelle Olson - who claimed the MIAC Women's individual title - added the MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete-of-the-Year honor to her already-impressive list of accomplishments. Carleton Head Coach Donna Ricks was selected by her peers as the MIAC Women's Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year.
Olson's time of 21:49.5 was nearly 40 seconds faster than the runner-up, her teammate Jorden Johnson. She was also named the MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete-of-the-Week twice and headlined the 2013 All-Conference squad.
Ricks led her team to its second title in a three years, its fifth since 2004. Overall, it was the Knights' sixth MIAC championship, and now only St. Thomas and St. Olaf have more women's cross country conference titles than Carleton. This is Ricks' sixth MIAC Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year honor, having also won it in 1995, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2011, and she was also the MIAC Indoor Track and Field Coach-of-the-Year in 2012.
Full list of the women's All Conference honors is HERE.
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