Ripon College Days

Junior Dave Billings set the school record for an 8K race finishing with a time of 24:42 which was good enough for a 12th place finish and a berth in the national championship race.

"Dave ran a great race," says Head Coach Robert Duley. "To finish 12th out of 243 runners is an amazing accomplishment."

Billings was not the only Ripon runner to have a great day.

"I'm very proud of the way that both teams ran today," says Duley.

The women's team competed on a 6K course, as opposed to their normal 5K course. Their top 4 runners all broke the previous school record for a 6K race. They were led by first year Heidi Heberlein (23:06), first year Rebecca Duley (23:40), senior Heather Kargl (23:47), and senior Gina Baker (23:48). Their fifth runner, sophomore Jolene Rueden, who ran a 24:26, beat her previous best time in the 6K by over 3 minutes.

"Finishing 16th out of 41 teams was a nice end to a good season," says Duley. "We finished behind some of the powerhouses from the Midwest, but we also finished ahead of a few of them."

In the men's race, Ripon went in a little short handed, with 2 of its top 5 runners unable to compete.

"(Sophomore) Aaron Kammer was unable to compete due to illness and (first year) Nathan Miyasaki was unable to compete because of an extremely painful back injury," says Duley.

Despite this handicap the team was able to finish 22nd out of 41 teams.

"The rest of the guys really picked up the slack, which has been the trademark of this team all year," Duley says.

All 7 of Ripon's runners ran their best times of the season. Leading the team was Billings (24:42), junior Peter Nielsen (26:53), first year Harrison Smith (27:45), senior Kjell Sporseen (28:35), and sophomore Mike Treder (28:52).

Billings is only the second runner in Ripon history to make it to the national championship race. Lori Stitch made it in both 1989 and 1990.

Even though he will be the only Ripon runner to compete this weekend, that does not mean that his teammates will get out of practice.

"Dave will continue his normal workouts," says Duley. "The rest of the men's team will practice with him."

When asked how he thinks Billings will fare this weekend Duley noted that it depended how he ran, but added, "If he runs the same race that he ran this weekend he should be in the top 25."

The national championship race will be held this Saturday in Colfax, Wis.

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