The 2008 Augustana Meet of Champions was a muddy, sloppy challenge welcomed by hundreds of high school runners.
Buses, stuck in the mud, were being towed out of the parking lot by tractors; rain poured during the early races and
runners were required to manuever carefully through the already difficult Meet of Champions course. Athletes not
particularly keen on their feet found themselves sliding down the slick downhill portions of the course on their backs.
The 2008 M.O.C. was a great event with great race shirts, music and awards. This meet displayed
what cross country racing is all about!
The girl's varsity race followed two JV races, leaving any traces of green grass on the downhills hidden under the mud!
The Yankton girls continued their winning ways, scoring a low 41 points to RC Stevens' 62, who claimed the runner-up honors.
Yankton's 1-4 was very strong and looked like they will be hard to beat this season. A large lead group sprinted to the
opening in the fence that preceedes the circuit of hills. Mariah Hofer put on a incredible display in front of the rain-drenched
crowd, distancing herself with each hill and increasing her lead even more on the flats. Hofer ran 15:52, finishing
28 seconds up on her teammate, Megan Hilson, who crossed the line next. The Yankton girls ran a smart, patient
race which fit the adverse conditions well. Bridgett Simmons, the freshman from Pierre seemed to be a suprise top 5
finisher in the third spot. Another Pierre freshman, Jamie Chalcraft, finished 6th. Just ahead of the Pierre runners
was the RC Stevens tandem of Sarah Coomes and Annie Pfiefle in the 4/5 spots.
The final race of the day featured the Yankton boys, who would end up winning the meet, as well as some of the top
AA and A individual runners in South Dakota. Like the girl's race, a large lead pack got out to a quick start to gain
position entering the slim trails that snake through the course's hills.
At the 3k mark, the lead group of Josh Heitkamp of SF Washington (who had lead the entire race), Alex Muntefering
of Parkston and Andy Coy from Hill City had a 8 second gap on the chase pack led by Riley Coates of RC Stevens,
Mitch Yaggie of Yankton and Alec Espeland from Pierre. Up the final ascent of the "Kiesow Climb", Heitkamp
and Coy broke free and Coates made a big move to catch Muntefering. Coming around the corner and into the final 600
meters, Coy had captured the lead, closely followed by Heitkamp. Coates had moved into a 3rd place tie with Muntefering
and Espeland and Yaggie were still in the mix.
Heitkamp wasn't done, however, and regained the lead as he crested the final incline and put the final gap on Coy
as they finished 17:42 and 17:50. Muntefering, Coates and Yaggie closed out the Top 5 finishing within 2 seconds of
each other (18:00, 18:02, 18:02).
The awards ceremony that followed was top-notch and put the perfect cap on a great day.
