Nowak takes third at IIAC meet; Jacobs sixth

Cornell seniors Chase Nowak and Ben Jacobs padded their running rèsumès Saturday and joined a short list of multiple-time all-conference performers at the Iowa Conference Men's Cross Country Championships on the campus of Luther College.

Nowak earned all-IIAC honors for the third year in a row. He placed third in the 170-man field, completing the eight-kilometer distance in 25 minutes, 29.7 seconds. Nowak's third conference medal tied him with Andrew Tobben for the most by a Ram runner in the IIAC era.

Jacobs notched his second all-conference award. He wound up sixth with a time of 25:45.3. Jacobs joined Nowak and Tobben as the program's only cross country runners to garner all-IIAC honors at least twice in a career.

"Chase and Ben did a great job for us up front at the IIAC meet," Cornell head coach Dan Schofer said. "They have been running well all season long, and Saturday was no different. I am so proud of both Chase and Ben."

Nowak finished 12th at the 2009 meet, and was seventh a year ago. Jacobs took ninth in 2009, and was left out of the top 15 (29th) last fall.

Saturday was the first time the Rams had two runners place in the top six at an IIAC meet.

"Chase joined an elite group as a three-time all-IIAC honoree. Ben has rebounded incredibly from a rough end to his junior season," Schofer said. "They have set the bar very high in terms of work ethic, determination and competitive success."

The Rams finished fifth in the team standings with 135 points. Cornell was 20 points behind Central in fourth. Loras nipped Luther for the team crown, 53-56. Coe senior Kyle Heineman claimed the individual title in 25:14.

"We knew it would be tough to repeat our top-three team finishes from the last two years after graduating two all-American runners (Kirkwood Donavin and Tobben) last spring," Schofer said. "But our men have been determined to keep our standards high and run well at the championship meets."

Senior Adam Rooyakkers was the third Ram to cross the line, finishing 43rd in 27:17. Sophomore CJ Horan came in 65th (27:57), improving 51 places from last year. Freshman Charlie Mesimore took 70th in 28:01, followed closely by David Kuhlmann (71st, 28:04), Ben Swerdlow (74th, 28:09) and Lawrence Dennis (77th, 28:12).

"Adam stepped up with a solid race," Schofer said. "He was injured most of the summer and has been gradually getting back into good from. As he continues to close the gap on our top two, our team score will continue to improve."

Coming up - The Rams move on to the Central Region Championships Saturday, Nov. 12 in Waverly. The men's race begins at noon.

Nowak and Jacobs both carry all-region credentials. Nowak earned all-region status in 2010 (15th) and 2009 (26th). Jacobs was a top-35 finisher (24th) in 2009.

The regional is a qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships Nov. 19 in Oshkosh, Wis.

"I know we'll be ready for another battle in two weeks at regionals," Schofer said. "We have an experienced team that has made good improvements from week to week."