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Kieffer,
Nasers Pave The Way In 2003
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Kristie
Kieffer was the Mid-Continent Conference champion and Athlete
of the Year for Oakland. |
Oakland’s
women’s cross country enjoyed another strong season in 2003,
continuing to keep its name among the top teams in the Mid-Continent
Conference. Oakland success in the 2003 season can be squarely
placed on one person’s shoulders, those of senior Kristie Kieffer,
who turned in one of the most impressive individual seasons in
Mid-Con history.
After redshirting during the 2002
campaign, Kieffer blazed through her senior season in impressive
fashion, getting named the Mid-Con’s Athlete of the Year after
dominating the conference all season long. She won her second
Mid-Con individual title, was named the Mid-Con Athlete of the Week
five times and became Oakland’s first Division I qualifier to the
NCAA Championships.
After starting the season
finishing second to teammate Melissa Nasers by one second at the
Motor City Classic, Kieffer showed she was ready to put together an
impressive final season by winning the next two races. In fact, she
and Nasers proved to be an unbeatable combo in those three events,
as the duo switched positions in the second and third races of the
season to finish 1-2 in those races and lead the Golden Grizzlies to
third place finishes as a team.
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Melissa
Nasers was a first team All-Mid-Con performer and recorded six
top-10 finishes. |
During the course of the regular
season Kieffer finished no lower than fourth just once, in a strong
field at the Notre Dame Invitational in poor weather conditions
where she came in 18th. After that she reeled off two
more individual titles, taking the Bronco Invitational in 17:03, a
time that stood as the best 5K mark in the Mid-Con by 36 seconds
during the season.
At the Mid-Con Championships it
was Kieffer and Nasers that led the way for Oakland, as the Golden
Grizzlies moved up to a second-place finish from fourth a year ago,
fueled by Kieffer’s title and Nasers’ third-place finish,
earning both first team All-Mid-Con honors.
At
the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet, Kieffer put together her best
effort of the season, running a 21:10.7 over the 6K course, the best
6K time in the Mid-Con by 41 seconds over teammate Nasers. Her time
placed her 13th in the field of 252 runners, earning her
at at-large bid to the national championship race. At nationals
Kieffer capped off her career with a time of 21:33.4, placing her
150th in the field. |
