News


Peterson Signs Seniors
July 2, 2008


The Indiana Tech Cross Country teams added to their already strong teams with some outstanding signees. The women that have signed on are: Hilary Snyder from Jackson Lumen Christi High School in Jackson, Michigan. Hilary has run 5:05 for the mile and won the state meet last year in that event. She also was all state in cross country with a 5k best time of 18:25. Ashley Stebbins from Rockford High School in Rockford, MI. Ashley has run low 19's in the 5k and helped lead Rockford to the state every one of her four years there. Jordan Arnold from Lafayette Jeff High School in Lafayette, IN. Jordan has run 18:50's for 5k and was one of the top seniors in the state this past season. Veronica Jersey from Whitko High School in South Whitley, Indiana. Veronica has been one of the best runners in the Fort Wayne area the last few years in cross country and has a best 4k time of 15:30. Tiffany Fowler of South Bend Riley High School in South Bend, IN. Tiffany has run 20:00 for 5k and 11:45 for 3200. Karissa Cominator from Northridge High School in Middlebury, IN. Karissa has run 11:28 for 3200 and 19:05 for 5k. Danielle Partain from Corunna HS in Corunna, MI. Danielle has run 18:55 for 5k. For the men, the following have signed on: Cody White from Heritage High School in Monroeville, IN. Cody ran 4:23 in the mile as a junior to qualify for the state meet and looks to run under 4:20 in his senior season. Tony Yoder from Northridge High School in Middlebury, IN. Tony had a breakout season in his senior year. He placed 38th at the state meet and had a personal best of 16:12 for 5k. Matt Kimbrell from Muncie South HS in Muncie, IN. Matt was 12th at state in the 1600 this year and has run 16:20 for 5k. Ben Serna from Center Grove HS in Center Grove, IN. Ben was a 3200 meter state meet qualifier, running 9:31 for his personal best time. He also ran 16:20 for 5k in cross country.

Warrior Runners Sprint to the Season Finish Line at Nationals
November 18, 2007


In their first season, Indiana Tech's Cross Country has already made its mark in the community and nationally.  The women's team qualified for the National Championship by winning the Region VIII meet while the men's team earned an at large bid via their final season #23 national ranking.  The NAIA National Championship was held at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On a day where the sun never really made it's presence felt and sprinkles of rain threatened throughout, 28 men's teams and 29 women's teams were ready to stretch their legs on one of the purest cross country courses in the nation complete with woodsy trails and a long gradual grassy hill right off the start.

In the first race of the day, the men's team would line up for the 8k.  Camron Walter would lead the Warriors to the finish line with a time of 25:18 and a 20th place finish to earn NAIA All-American Honors.  Other times for the Warriors would include Loren Spirito's 26:22, John Wainright's 26:32, Matt Ditzler's 26:51, Dan Neidlinger's 26:56, Jordan Mitchell's 27:16, and Jonathan Jiminez's 27:27.  Combining the top five finishes for the Warriors would land them a 20th place team finish.  In other awards, Matt Ditzler was recognized as a Champions of Character.

The women's 5k would finish the day's competition.  The Warrior's team earned a 9th place finish behind lead runner Kara Van Horn who finished the course with a time of 18:30.  The Warrior teammate's times were comprised of Leah Blakemore's 18:46, Alyssa Webb's 18:58, Felicia Mondry's 19:08, Mika Davis' 19:43, Brittney Howland's 20:08, and Kim Matusik's 20:32.  Van Horn was also named to the Champions of Character list.

Indiana Tech's runners, all Freshmen, gained experience and knowledge on what it takes to compete at the national level and will look to improve on this year's phenomenal season in years to come.


Warrior Men Invited to Cross Country Championships
November 6, 2007


The NAIA has awarded the Indiana Tech men’s cross country team an at-large bid to the National Championships. Two individual runners, Camron Walter and Matt Ditzler, had already qualified for nationals based on their performance at the Region VIII meet on Nov. 3.

The women’s cross country team automatically qualified for nationals by winning the Region VIII Championship.

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams are in their first year at Indiana Tech, and all of the runners are freshmen. In the final poll of the season, the Warrior women were ranked 7th in the nation while the Warrior men were ranked 23rd.

For more information on the Indiana Tech cross country teams, including rosters, please visit www.IndianaTech.edu/Athletics.

The NAIA National Championships will be run Nov. 17 at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course, Kenosha, Wis. For more information on the national championships, visit www.naia.org.


Warrior Women Run to National Championship
November 4, 2007


In its first season, the Indiana Tech women’s cross country team won the NAIA Region VIII Championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 3, and qualified for the NAIA National Championships. Warriors Coach Brad Peterson was named Women’s Cross Country Region VIII Coach of the Year.

The men’s cross country team, also in its first year, will send two individual runners to the National Championships and may qualify for an at-large bid, which will be announced next week.

The Indiana Tech women, all freshmen, won the meet with 59 points. The team’s average time for the 5K run was 18:57.25. Individual times were:

  • Kara Van Horn (Huntington, Ind.), 18:41.19, 5th place
  • Leah Blakemore (Flint, Mich.), 18:45.70, 6th place            
  • Felicia Mondry (Grandville, Mich.), 18:51.94, 9th place
  • Alyssa Webb (Indianapolis, Ind.), 19:05.74, 14th place
  • Mika Davis (Modoc, Ind.), 19:21.68, 25th place
  • Brittney Howland (Grandville, Mich.), 19:51.53, 41st place
  • Kim Matusik (Crown Point, Ind.), 20:00.80, 47th place 

The men’s cross country team, also all freshmen, finished 5th with 125 points and an average time of 26:11.72 for the 8K run. The two runners who qualified for the national meet were:

  • Camron Walter (South Whitley, Ind.), 25:20.01, 6th place
  • Matt Ditzler (Huntington, Ind.), 26:00.20, 20th place

The NAIA National Championships will be run Nov. 17 at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course, Kenosha, Wis. For more information on the national championships, visit www.naia.org.


Coach Peterson Named Coach of the Year
October 21, 2007


Coach Brad Peterson was named WHAC Coach of the Year after the Lady Warriors won the conference meet on Saturday. "Winning this award is a tribute to the young ladies and how hard they have worked, and a tribute to our entire coaching staff," Coach Peterson said. "I have high expectations and they have been on the same page with me every step of the way in our first year as a program. To win conference in our first year as a program with all freshmen is a tremendous feeling. I feel very fortunate to be able to coach such a good group of young ladies that are so coachable. It is scary what we can do over the next few years with these ladies leading the way."

WARRIOR WOMEN WIN WHAC MEET
October 21, 2007


The Ladies' Cross Country team won the WHAC championships in dominant fashion, coming away with 6 ladies in the top 12, and 4 of them all conference. Once again, Kara Van Horn led the way, finishing 2nd in 18:43. Leah Blakemore ran a personal best of 19:01 and placed 3rd. Felicia Mondry was 5th in 19:15, and Alyssa Webb placed 7th in a personal record time of 19:28. By placing in the top 7, those 4 young ladies were all named all conference. Mika Davis just missed All conference as she placed 9th in a personal record time of 19:31 and Kim Matusik was 12th in 19:39. Brittney Howland rounded out the team with a personal best of 20:19 and placed 22nd. "This was a dominant performance by the ladies," Coach Brad Peterson said. "To put 5 girls in front of Aquinas' #2 girl was amazing because they are a top 15 national team. We have a lot of respect for their program. For us to run so well makes me very proud. We go into regionals with a lot of confidence and we have a chance to win that meet if we continue to race like this." The women are currently ranked 10th in the nation but expect to move up a couple spots with their performance.

MEN FINISH 3RD AT WHAC BEHIND NATIONAL POWERHOUSES
October 21, 2007


The men's cross country team finished a strong 3rd place at the WHAC conference meet on Saturday, October 20th at Siena Heights. They were no match for Aquinas and Cornerstone, the #2 and #4 ranked teams in the nation. The Warriors did show they are a top 20 team, though. Camron Walter led the way with an 8th place finish, just one place away from All Conference. He was the top freshman finisher there. Daniel Neidlinger had a breakthrough race, running a personal record, 26:33, and placing 15th, and was the 4th freshman finisher. Matt Ditzler was 17th, Jordan Mitchell 19th, and John Wainwright 22nd to round out the team scorers. They were the 5th, 7th, and 8th freshman finishers. "I was very proud of Walter, Neidlinger, and Mitchell today," Coach Brad Peterson said. "Unfortunately, we had some subpar races from other key individuals that really hurt us today. We are still on pace to get to nationals but we must run better at Regionals than we did today or we could be staying at home. I have a lot of confidence in our guys that they will be ready when it counts." Regionals will be Saturday, November 3rd at Aquinas in Grand Rapids.

WARRIOR MEN PLACE 2ND AT LANSING
October 1, 2007


The men's cross country team had their best race of the year on Friday, Sept. 28th at Lansing, finishing a close 2nd to Lansing, one of the top junior college teams in the country. The men averaged 26:18 per man, down 15 seconds per man from their previous best. Camron Walter once again led the way with a 3rd place finish, tying his school record of 25:44. Matt Ditzler ran 26:21, bouncing back from a bad ankle sprain. This was his best time by 30 seconds. Loren Spirito was 11th in 26:26. John Wainwright had a new personal best time of 26:27, placing 12th. Jon Jimenez had a breakthrough race, placing 13th in 26:33, his best time ever by 47 seconds. Dan Neidlinger also had a personal best time of 26:35, placing 14th. Another breakthrough race was by Jordan Mitchell, placing 15th in 26:45, down 90 seconds from previous best. "It was great to see the pack attack we had today," Coach Brad Peterson said. "We have been frustrated with some nagging injuries but we finally had everyone on the line healthy and it showed what great potential this team has. We had only 24 seconds elapse from our 2nd runner to our 7th runner. With this kind of depth, it is only going to make us stronger at Conference, Regionals, and Nationals. I am so excited about what these guys are going to do in the next several weeks and where they are going to take this program over the next four years."

WARRIOR WOMEN WIN LANSING
October 1, 2007


The women's cross country team won the Lansing Invite on Friday, September 28th. Kara Van Horn and Felicia Mondry led the way with 2nd and an 3rd place finishes in 18:40 and 18:42. Mondry's time was 48 seconds better than her previous best. Other breakthrough races were by Mika Davis and Alyssa Webb. Davis placed 9th in 19:33, 47 seconds better than her previous best. Webb placed 13th in 19:42, 20 seconds better than her previous best. Leah Blakemore placed 8th in 19:25 and Kim Matusik placed 14th in 19:44 to aid the Warriors to victory. "This was our best race of the year," Coach Brad Peterson said. "We averaged 19:12 per girl for our top 5, down ten seconds a girl from two weeks ago. Mondry, Davis, and Webb were huge for us today. The ladies continue to impress me with their ability to step up on race day." They hope to move into the top 10 in the national rankings with their strong performance.

Men 4th at Intercollegiates
September 17, 2007


The Indiana Tech Men's Cross Country team finished 4th at Intercollegiates at Purdue University on Friday, September 14th. They were led by Camron Walter's 3rd place finish in 25:44, breaking his own school record by 45 seconds. They were the top NAIA team in the whole meet. They averaged 26:33 per man, down from 27:02 from their first meet. They did this without their #2 runner, Matt Ditzler, who went down with a sprained ankle. Loren Spirito had a big race, placing 12th in 26:14, dropping his personal best by 90 seconds. John Wainwright placed 23rd in a personal best time of 26:40, 36 seconds better than his previous best. Dan Neidlinger placed 28th in 26:44, a personal best by 33 seconds. Jonathan Jimenez rounded out the team scoring with a breakthrough race of his own, running 27:20, some 77 seconds better than his previous best. Derek Holst also had a big drop as he ran 28:28, down 32 seconds, and Tommy Mullen came down 2 minutes, running 28:43. "I was very impressed with how our men competed at such a big meet against such great teams," Coach Brad Peterson said. "We were not intimidated by anyone. To drop so much time in just one week is amazing, especially on such a hilly course. We are looking very good for October and November when things really count. I believe all of our guys have another 30 to 40 seconds in them to drop. I was so happy to see Loren Spirito where he belongs and Walter continues to show that he is an All American candidate. The way we performed should get us in the national rankings this week." The Warriors are off this weekend before traveling to Lansing Community College next weekend for their next big test.

Women's Cross Country 3rd at Intercollegiates
September 17, 2007


The Indiana Tech Women's Cross Country team placed 3rd at Purdue, led by Kara Van Horn's 3rd place finish. They were easily the best NAIA team there. The team improved greatly in just one week after their first meet of the season at Aquinas. They averaged 19:22 per girl, down from 19;45 per girl from their first meeet. Van Horn ran 18:36, lowering her school record by 36 seconds. Leah Blakemore placed 14th in 19:12, a new personal best by 33 seconds. Felicia Mondry was 21st in 19:30. Kim Matusik was 24th in 19:34, a personal best by 27 seconds. Alyssa Webb stepped up big and ran 20:03, placing 33rd, and dropping her best time by 30 seconds. "The ladies continue to show they are one of the best teams in our conference and in our region," Coach Brad Peterson said. "I have been extremely pleased with how they have competed in both meets thus far. We were only 6 points from being runnerup in this very competitive meet at Purdue. Van Horn is proving that she could be an All American this year. Blakemore continues to race out of her mind. Webb continues to get better and I would not be surprised to see her crack our top 4 in the next couple weeks. Matusik has been solid all year, and Mondry and Mika Davis will be back on their game the next time we race. Our overall performance should give us a very strong national ranking." The Warriors have the weekend off but will be back in action on Friday, September 28th at Lansing Community College.

Intercollegiate Pictures
September 17, 2007