Mineral Area College Running Cards

At the National meet in Massachusetts this weekend, the Lady Cards started the morning off with great races. They were determined to bring home the championship trophy and went for it. After a 40 minute wait, we received the news and the paperwork...we had won the championship by 1 point. You can imagine how the ladies, their families and coach were celebrating. What a race...what an accomplishment! Meanwhile the Men's team had to run their race and we shifted our focus to them. Their race didn't go according to plan and they had to struggle to hang on and get every position they could. We knew we hadn't won and were unsure at this point if we even held on to 2nd place. As we were getting them across the finish line, we started receiving word there had been an error in the Women's scoring and now instead of winning by 1 point we were now in 2nd place by 1 point. The celebration quickly turned sour and there was nothing we could do to change the outcome. Our ladies handled it with grace and poise and made us proud. The Men then found out they had secured the runner-up position as well.

It is sad to say that your first feeling is that of defeat but after you collect your thoughts and emotions, you realize that both teams are the 2nd place teams in D3 nation. WAY TO GO CARDINALS!

We are now setting our sights on the Track and Field season!

To finish on a positive note, we had 4 of our athletes receive ALL-AMERICAN honors. Julia Boyher-7th; Riley Petsch-11th; Brad Ahrens-2nd and Devin St. Clair-14th. Congratulations on this achievement!

Region 16 Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.

The MAC Running Cardinals Women and Men's teams are both Region 16 Champions for the 4th straight year.
All-Region honors go to Brad Ahrens-1st; Devin St. Clair-2nd; and Elijah Myers-3rd for the men and Riley Petsch-2nd and Julia Boyher-3rd for the women. Congratulations! On to the National Championships in Massachusetts next weekend!

MAC CC/Track on Twitter

MAC CC/Track on Twitter “Race Day! The Nationally top ranked are on the road to Kansas City for the Region 16 Championships. Both teams are running for their 4th straight titles. ”

NJCAA Cross Country and Track & Field on Twitter

Well deserved Riley!

NJCAA Cross Country and Track & Field on Twitter “Riley Petsch of is the DIII Women's Runner of the Week! Petsch finished second in the Greenville Classic with a 19:44 mark. ”

USTFCCCA on Twitter

Second time this season for Brad!

USTFCCCA on Twitter “Here are our National Athletes of the Week in DIII Cross Country for October 17, 2022! M - Brad Ahrens, W - Aja Jackson, This duo showed why they deserved national honors! https://t.co/mPUN6Smq9m”

MAC Women win the Greenville meet this evening held at the Hillsboro, Illinois Golf Course! Congratulations ladies! Many of them broke their own personal records with 6 of them placing in the awards. Way to go Lady Cards!
On the Men's side, the Cards came in 2nd behind the host school and had many PR's as well.
Next meet will be the Region 16 championships on October 28th in Kansas City, Missouri.

The running Cardinals competed this evening in the Border Wars hosted by Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. It turned out to be a wonderful evening of racing with some times and places to be proud of! Go Cards!

USTFCCCA on Twitter

Congrats Bradley! Well deserved.

USTFCCCA on Twitter “Here are our DIII National Athletes of the Week for October 3, 2022! M - Brad Ahrens, W - Lilly Alberts, This duo ran tough and was rewarded with national honors! https://t.co/PLJzVw9pCE”

Running cardinals were back on the racing circuit Friday in Decatur, Illinois at a dual meet with Millikin University. Weather was perfect and times were fast. Next competition will be Friday, October 7th at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

MAC CC/Track on Twitter

MAC CC/Track on Twitter “For the first time in the 5 year history of the program, the Women's team sits on top of the National rankings for Division III Cross Country. The MAC Men's team is second behind DuPage College. Keep it up Cards! ”

Sorry for the late post. We usually send out meet info on the bus ride home but coaches were driving. Our teams had another great meet at University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday, September 9th. They are currently focusing on intense training during a two week hiatus from racing and will be back on the course September 30th at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Good race results for MAC Cardinals tonight in Cape Girardeau. We butted heads with NCAA Division 1 schools and we are proud of our efforts.
Meet Results: https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/pfiETrUc1SIj

MAC CC/Track on Twitter

https://twitter.com/MACRunningCards/status/1565716972540760068?t=mOyok8rLEdUvnq3KsipG3w&s=19

MAC CC/Track on Twitter “Race Day for the with competition this evening. Live results at: https://t.co/YCT6BYX6Xq Let's Go MAC!!! ”

Mineral Area College Running Cards kicked off their Cross Country season this evening in Normal, Illinois. Heartland Community College hosted the event which consisted of 2-person relays running 1 mile at a time. The women each ran 3 miles combining their times and the men ran 4 miles.

The women had 4 teams and finished with 3 of them 4 placing in the top 10 awards .

The men competed with 5 teams and placed 2 in the top 10.

Award winners for the women were 3rd-Julia Boyher and Riley Petsch; 7th-Abi Dean and Rachel Wilson; 8th-Ava Laut and Laura Maddox.

Award winners for the men were 3rd-Brad Ahrens and Devin St. Clair; 10th-Elijah Myers and Nathan St. Clair.

Great effort from the teams especially with 15 of the 19 runners competing in their first college race.

The teams will race again Friday, September 2nd at the Red Hawk Invitational in Cape Girardeau.

It's the final day of our week long trip together and we are under 3 hours from home. We had 7 of our athletes who chose to miss their graduation ceremony to be able to compete at the Nationals; Jordan Bales, Grant Shankle, Jacob Arnold, Ricardo Menjivar, Haley Hernandez, Kyle Vinyard, and Brianna Sansoucie. 🎊 Congratulations to you and best wishes from your team and coaches!
Finally, the entire track team and their coaches would like to thank our driver, Don Owens and name him the MVP of the week! Mr. Don goes above and beyond the duties of a bus driver. He spends time getting to know the athletes, he cheers them on during their events, and goes out of his way to assist the coaches. Thank you Don! You truly are the best at your craft!

On day 6 of our journey, we boarded the bus early because we had a small detour in mind. When you realize a modern day natural wonder is just 22 miles off of the interstate, and you know many of us may not pass this way again, you head to Niagra Falls! A sight to behold and another great memory as a team. Good news: one more night's stay in Ohio tonight and then this bus of weary travelers should land in Park Hills tomorrow night. Bad news: it's Finals week!

Day 5 of this journey, and the final day of competition started with a determined group of student athletes entering the stadium to make things happen. And make things happen they did. It was a day of 11 finals and every final MAC competed in, they made it to the podium except for the Men's 400 hurdle where Hunter came up lame and unable to finish.
Beginning with 1500 Meters: Haley Hernandez and Rachel Wilson finished 5th and 7th both with PR's (personal record); Kyle Vinyard and Jacob Arnold were 3rd and 4th both with PR's. 4x100 Meter Relays: Women's team of Brianna Sansoucie, Reilly Baughman, Stephany Latham & Laine Cottrell placed 2nd with a PR. Men's team of Noah Winch, Grant Shankle, Mitchell Meyer & Cory Stoll placed 6th with another PR. Women's 400 Meter runner Laine Cottrell place 2nd with another PR. After that, it was the Women's 100 Meter and Laine placed 6th. In the Men's 110 High Hurdles, we had another National Champion with Hunter Cary and a fabulous 4th place finish and big PR from Jordan Bales! Next was the Women's 800 Meters and Kara Hovick placed 7th with another PR. Discus Throw: Molly Gearhart placed 3rd for the women and Josh Duerr got a PR and placed 8th for the men. 5000 Meter Run: for the women, another National Champion, Haley Hernanndez followed by Laura Maddox placing 4th. For the men Kyle Vinyard, Jacob Arnold and Devin St. Clair placing 2nd, 3rd and 8th.
Every single point and place matters when trying to bring home a team trophy. The Cardinals had their sights set on each team winning one of the coveted top 3 places and they accomplished their goal. The Mineral Area Cardinals from Park Hills, Missouri have have brought home the silver and the bronze with the Men finishing 2nd in the Nation and the Women finishing 3rd in the Nation! Way to go Cards! You have made us proud! The teams topped off the day with a celebration dinner at the Recovery Room Sports Grill.

Day 4 of our journey and our 2nd day of competition did not go as we had hoped, although we still had some amazing performances. To begin with, Hunter Cary is now the National Champion in the Men's Decathlon. 10 events in 2 days and he ended ahead of the competition! As well as the 10 events of the Decathlon, he also found time to compete in 6 other individual events. So far, he had scored points in the Javelin yesterday, the Shot today. He didn't score in the high jump, and narrowly missed the 100 Meter finals. He did however make it to the finals in the 400 Meter Hurdles and the 110 High Hurdles set for Saturday. Grayson Knernschield and Ricardo Menjivar made it to the podium in the Steeplechase in 6th and 7th place after just taking up the event in the last couple of weeks to try to put some points on the board for MAC. Liberty Coleman found her way to the podium again today placing 7th in the Women's High Jump. Rounding out the day for the girls, Laine Cottrell made it to the finals in the 100 Meter Dash and will also compete in the 400 Meter Dash finals on Saturday as well. Rachel Wilson and Kara Hovick made it to the finals in the 800 Meter Run. As mentioned before, both men and womens' teams qualified in the 4x100 Meter Relay finals also set to be run on Saturday. Another day in the record books but the final day has yet to come. Let's see what these Cardinals can do tomorrow after they rest and recover tonight. Go Cards!

Day 3 of the New York trip ended and after the 1st day of competition, the women are in 1st place and the men are in 2nd place by 1/2 a point. National Champions, Jacob Arnold and Haley Hernandez both won the 10K earning 1st team All-American honors. 2nd team All- American honors went to our girls 4x8 team: Kara Hovick, Laura Maddox, Rachel Wilson & Haley Hernandez; Laura Maddox and Kyle Vinyard in the 10K; Liberty Coleman in pole vault. 3rd team All-American honors went to Reilly Baughman pole vault and the Men's 4x8 team of Jacob Arnold, Grayson Knernschield, Devin St.Clair and Kyle Vineyard. After the 1st 5 events of the decathlon, Hunter Cary is leading the field.
Our Men and women's 4x1 teams both qualified for the finals on Saturday and Grant Shankle and Hunter both scored points in the javelin.
Kyle Vinyard also received the USTFCCCA Central Region Track Athlete of the Year award.
Whew! What a day!

After another day of 8+ hours on the bus, we finally made it to Troy, New York. We made a stop in Westfield to take in the sights of Lake Erie and the Barcelona Lighthouse. When we arrived in Troy, we had another workout on the track and field then enjoyed an awesome dinner at Alexis' Diner. Don Owens recommended the restaurant and he wins the award! Way to go Donnie! Time for bed now because competition begins tomorrow and we are pumped! Go Cards!

22 MAC Cardinals boarded a bus this morning headed to Troy, New York to compete at the NJCAA Division III National Track & Field Championships. Day 1 brought us to Mansfield, Ohio where we had a workout at Madison High School track and then enjoyed a dinner at Applebee's. Time for bed.

Let's Go Cardinals!

Last meet of the season for the competing today at Illinois College! Last chance to hit qualifying marks before the national meet in Troy New York coming up in 2 weeks. GO CARDS!

Track & Field headed to Lincoln University in Jefferson City. Good luck Cardinals!

2022 MAC Track Teams.

Mineral Area running Cards competed in the National meet today in Milledgeville, Georgia. The men's team finished in 2nd place and MAC'S first ever women's cross country team finished 4th in the nation after being ranked 8th. Four of our runners earned All-American honors so all in all, it was a successful day in Milledgeville, Georgia! We are super proud of each of our athletes and all they have accomished this season!

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Tuesday 11, 2021 NJCAA Track & Field Nationals at Levelland, Texas.

Some days are just tougher than others but you never quit-shoe or no shoe! Lindenwood 4-11-21.

Photos from Mineral Area College Running Cards's post

Photos from Mineral Area College Running Cards's post