MURRAY STATE CROSS COUNTRY MEDIA GUIDE 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2015 QUICK FACTS Quick Facts .............................. 1 UNIVERSITY INFORMATION Schedule ................................... 2 Nickname: Racers (not Lady Racers) Team Rosters .......................... 3 Location: Murray, Ky. Coach Bios ...........................4-7 Established: 1922 Player Bios ........................ 8-18 Enrollment: 11,207 2014 Results ..................19-20 Conference: Ohio Valley Affiliation: NCAA Division I Colors: Navy & Gold The 2015 Murray State women’s and men’s cross country media guide President: Dr. Robert O. Davies was produced for use by the media and followers of the Racers’ men’s and Athletics Director: Allen Ward women’s cross country teams. Senior Woman Administrator: Velvet Milkman The 2015 Murray State cross country media guide was designed, compiled, written and edited by Christina Anderson, Media Relations Intern. RACERS COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Jenny Severns All photogoraphy is property of the Murray State Athletic Media Relations Alma Mater: Central Michigan Univ., 2002 Department. Editing assistance provided by Dave Winder, Parker Griffith and Kevin DeVries. Season at Murray State: 6th Office Phone: (270) 809-3240 Corrections and additions are welcomed and can be emailed to Christina An- E-Mail: [email protected] derson at [email protected]. Assistant Coach: Adam Kiesler Alma Mater: Michigan, 2007 Season at Murray State: 6th Office Phone: (270) 809-5435 E-Mail: [email protected] Assistant Coach: Rochelle Black Alma Mater:Radford University, 2005 Season at Murray State: 2nd Office Phone: (270) 809-6941 E-Mail: [email protected] Assistant Coach: Krysten Sebby Alma Mater: Lewis University, 2014 Season at Murray State: 2nd Office Phone: (270) 809-6941 E-Mail: [email protected] 2015 SEASON IN REVIEW OVC Men’s Finish: 8/12 OVC Women’s Finish: 5/12 NCAA Women’s Regional Finish: 28/38 NCAA Men’s Regional Finish: 27/33 2014 BY THE NUMBERS MEN Returning: 8 Newcomers: 2 MEN Returning: 17 Newcomers: 4 MEDIA RELATIONS Cross Country Contact: Christina Anderson Office Phone: (270) 809-7051 Cell Phone: (936)-648-6382 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: GoRacers.com 2015 Cross Country ~ 1 2015 RACER CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Location Sept. 5 Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic 9:20PM Memphis, Tenn. Sept. 19 2015 Commodore Classic 9:00AM Charleston, Ill. Oct. 2 Notre Dame Invitiational TBD Southbend, Ind Oct. 17 2015 Pre Nationals TBD Louisville, Ky. Oct. 31 OVC Tournament 10:00AM Murray, Ky. Nov. 13 NCAA Southeast Regional TBD Charlottesville, Va. Nov. 21 NCAA Cross Country Championship TBA Louisville, Ky. All Times Central 2015 Cross Country ~ 2 2015 Women’s Cross Country Roster Name Year Hometown(Previous school) Taylor Adcock So. Moweaqua, Ill. / (Central A&M) Maddy Brown Fr. Saint Louis, Mo. / (Parkway West High School) Purity Chebet Fr. Eldoret / (Moi Girls Kamusinga) Emily Evans Jr. St. Charles, Mo. / (Orchard Farm HS) Emily Flaherty So. Louisville, Ky. / (Presentation Academy) Emma Gilmore Sr. Locks Heath, England /(Itchen College) Emani Griffin So. Akron, Oh. / (Buchtel HS) Caroline Grogan So. LaGrange, Ky. / (Oldham County HS) Alicyn Hester Jr. Yorkville, Ill. / (Yorkville HS) Vallery Korir So. Iten, Kenya / (Tambach Teachers College) Leah Krause Sr. St. Charles, Mo. / (Francis Howell HS) Morgan McNeely Fr. Scottsburg, Ind. / (Scottsburg HS) Rebecca Morris Sr. Fort Wright, Ky. /(Notre Dame Academy) Ida Mutai Fr. Nairobi, Kenya / (Kapkonda Girls High School) Heatherly Paschall Sr. Murray, Ky. / (Murray HS) Rebekah Priddy So. Austin, Tx. / (Westlake HS) Kimmy Siebert Jr. St. Louis, Mo. / (Bishop Dubourg HS) Meagan Smith So. Danville, Ky. / (Danville HS) Jacquelyn Thate Sr. Darien, Ill. / (South HS) Tia Weston Jr. Fairdale, Ky. / (Fairdale HS) 2015 Men’s Cross Country Roster Name Year Hometown(Previous school) Austin Ackman Fr. Havanna, Ill./(Havana HS) Cole Cisneros Sr. Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS) Gavin Davis So. Nicholasville, Ky. (West Jessamine HS) Gavin Galanes So. St. Charles, Mo. (Francis Howell HS) Jarred Koerner Sr. Champaign, Ill. (Saint Thomas More HS) Lucas Prather Sr. Mahomet, Ill. (Mahomet-Seymour HS) Evan Staviski Jr. Owingsville, Ky. (Bath County HS) Vince Turner Fr. Louisville, Ky./(Trinity HS) Mark Venura So. Slade, Ky. (Powell County HS) Neil Yockey Jr. Shelbyville, Ill. (Shelbyville HS) Coaching Staff Head Coach: Jenny Severns, 6th season Assistant Coach: Adam Kiesler, 6th season Assistant Coach: Rochelle Black, 2nd season Assistant Coach: Krysten Sebby, 2nd season 2015 Cross Country ~ 3 Jenny Swieton Head Coach 6th season Central Michigan, 2002 Jenny Swieton begins her sixth season as Murray State head coach for men’s and women’s cross-country and women’s track & field in the 2015-16 school year. Swieton came to Murray State in July 2010 and has guided both programs to impressive achievement and progress. She was honored in 2013 as the OVC Women’s Track & Field Coach of the Year after the Racers placed second at the OVC Outdoor Championship. In the 2014-15 season alone, the women’s track & field team set 10 school records and had 55 performances that ranked in the program’s all- time top-10. The Racers had a pair of OVC Outdoor champions when Brittany Bohn won the steeplechase and Tonia Pratt set the OVC record in the discus. Pratt qualified for the NCAA’s in three events and Ashley Conway qualified for the long jump. Other highlights included Vallery Korir setting the school indoor record in the 5K and the Emma Gilmore setting the MSU record in the mile. Gilmore and Bohn became the first Racers to break 5-minute threshold in the mile. The Racers became the only team in the OVC to score three runners in the mile in back-to-back years. In 2014 cross country, the Racers were led by a pair of freshmen Meagan Smith and Carolyne Grogan who led the charge of seven runners that moved into the MSU all-time list for the 5k. Additionally, the Racers had two runners make the top-10 list in the 6k. MSU won the Austin Peay invitational with a perfect score led by Emma Gilmore who won top honors. In 2012 Abbie Ashbee-Simmonds broke the school record in the 6k with a 21:35. In 2014 men’s cross country, the Racers qualified for the NCAA Southeast Regional championship. They won the Austin Peay invitational as Cole Cisneros took first place. In 2013 and 2014, the Racers placed eighth at the OVC Championship, their best finishes since 2008. The Coach Swieton era has produced some of the greatest success in Racer history. Combining cross country and track & field, she has coached 18 individual OVC Champions and 36 All-OVC selections/top finishers. Additionally, the Racers have produced 114 MSU all-time top-10 perfor- mances in indoor, 73 in outdoor, plus eight in cross country. The Swieton era stars include Tonia Pratt, a multiple All-OVC selection thrower and 2012 OVC Freshman of the Year. Alexis Love was OVC Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013 OVC Athlete of the Outdoor Championship. She finished sixth at the NCAA Championships in the 100 and made it to the semifinals in the 200. Love was an All-America in both the outdoor and indoor seasons in 2013. She competed at the United States Olympic Trials. In the cross country arena, Coach Swieton has guided All-OVC performers Katelyn Jones (2010), Carolyn Tanui (2011, 2012), Abigail Ashbee- Simmonds (2012) and Emma Gilmore (2013). The Racers are also performing in the classroom. Both MSU cross country teams were named as 2014 Division I All-Academic Teams by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The men’s team posted the fourth highest team GPA in all of Division I and Jarred Koerner was named as COSIDA Academic All-District. The men’s cross country has also won two OVC academic awards, with the latest coming in 2014-15. In 2010 Kristin Reffett was a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. Swieton’s teams have been honored four times with the OVC Team Sportsmanship Award. This included women’s cross country and indoor track & field in 2011, outdoor track & field in 2012 and indoor track & field in 2015. Swieton came to Murray State after spending four seasons as an assistant cross-country and track & field coach at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Prior to UNCG, she was an assistant coach at Dickinson College in 2005-06. Swieton got her coaching start at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, Mich in 2001. A native of Flint, Mich., Swieton earned a bachelor’s degree in applied arts in 2002. She received a master’s degree in sports administration from CMU in 2011. She holds a USATF coaching certificates in level-1 coaching, endurance event specialist and track & field management. Swieton competed as a collegiate runner at Central Michigan and is still avid runner. She has competed in 15 marathons, including six at the Boston Marathon. She resides in Murray, Ky. with her husband, Craig, welcomed their first child in the world over the summer. His name is Logan Michael Swieton. 2015 Cross Country ~ 4 Adam Kiesler Assistant Coach 6th season Michigan, 2007 Adam Kiesler joined the Murray State cross country and track & field staff in August of 2010 as an assistant coach for both programs. Kiesler primarily works with the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and multi-events athletes at Murray State. As a member of the Murray State program, Kiesler has coached an U.S.A Olympic Trials Qualifier in the 100m and 200m dash in 2012 (Love), Three USTFCCCA All-Americans (200m Indoor, 100m Outdoor, 200m Outdoor, 2012) a NCAA Indoor Championship qualifier (200m dash, 2012) NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifier (100m and 200m, 2012) OVC Track Athlete of the Year (2012 Outdoor, Alexis Love) Two OVC Athlete of the Meet (2012 Outdoor, Alexis Love, 2013 Outdoor, Tonia Pratt) USATF Junior Nation- als qualifier (2012, 100m hurdles) 21 All-OVC performers and 13 OVC Champions.