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Baker University Men's Cross Country News
2003 Season

Hallauer

NAIA National Championship

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton concluded his career at the NAIA National Championship Nov. 22, but was unable to finish the race.

Hallauer dropped out soon after the 5-kilometer mark on the 8-kilometer course at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky., with stomach cramps. He placed 100th and 107th at the national championships in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Hallauer holds Baker's top three times in both the 8-kilometer (5-mile) and 10-kilometer (6.25-mile) races and was a three-time All-Heart of America Athletic Conference and All-Region V selection.

NAIA Region V Championship

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton qualified for the NAIA National Championships for the third consecutive year with a fifth-place finish at the NAIA Region V Championship in Fayette, Mo.

Hallauer overcame near-freezing temperatures and a rough course to finish in 25:59, breaking the 26-minute mark for the second week in a row. Hallauer is the only Wildcat to ever break 26-minutes on an eight-kilometer (five-mile) course.

Seniors Cole Gladhart and Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City and senior Mike Donnelly of Oklahoma City finished their cross country careers strong. Gladhart placed 28th in 27:52, bettering both his time and place from the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship a week earlier. Donnelly did the same, placing 32nd in a time of 28:11. Gillispie finished 29th in 28:00.

The Wildcats placed sixth out of 11 teams.

Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton finished the Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship in Baldwin City with a time of 25:48 on Nov. 1, breaking his own school record and placing fifth overall.

The time broke the eight-kilometer (five-mile) school record of 26:07 Hallauer set at the conference championship as a sophomore. It was also the fastest time run by a Wildcat on their home course at Baldwin City Golf Course, breaking the record of 26:13 Mark Misch set Nov. 5, 1994, at the conference championship. It was 54 seconds faster than Hallauer ran at Baldwin City his sophomre year for the Region V championship, his previous course PR. The fifth place finish was the highest by a male Wildcat since 1997.

Senior Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City placed 22nd overall and second on the team, and broke his personal record by 13 seconds. The biggest personal record of the day came from freshman Zach Pope of Olathe, who shattered his own PR by over a minute.

The Wildcats placed sixth overall.

Chile Pepper Festival

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton broke his own school record in the 10-kilometer (6.25-mile) run at the Chile Pepper Festival Oct. 18 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Hallauer completed the course in 34:44, breaking the record he set last year by 12 seconds. He placed 131st in the 262-runner field made up predominantly of NCAA Div. I and II schools.

Junior Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City also set a personal 10k record at the Chile. His time of 34:56 was 11 seconds faster than last season and placed him 207th.

Baker's next meet will be the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship, which the Wildcats host at the Baldwin City Golf Course Saturday, Nov. 1.

Gladhart

Ollie Isom Invitational

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton placed fifth and led the men's team to a third-place finish in the mud and the muck at the Ollie Isom Invitational Oct. 11 in El Dorado.

Senior Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City missed medalling by just two places with a 12th-place finish. Senior Cole Gladhart of Baldwin City moved to third on the team with a 17th place finish after running as Baker's fourth or fifth runner all season. Senior Mike Donnelly of Oklahoma City, sophomore Alan Davis of Tonganxie and freshman Zach Pope of Olathe finished 23rd, 25th and 26th place, respectively, separated by just 25 seconds. The Wildcats have narrowed the gap between the No. 1 and No. 5 runners at each meet this season.

Cowboy Jamboree

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton medalled by placing 30th out of 232 finishers in the college division of the Cowboy Jamboree Oct. 4 in Stillwater, Okla.

The Jamboree is the oldest consecutive cross country meet in the United States, with races every year since 1937. Hallauer's time of 26:53 in the 8-kilometer (5-mile) run moved him from fifth to third on Baker's All-Time Fastest Seniors list.

The Wildcats placed 16th out of 26 full teams in the college division despite a sickness keeping sophomore Alan Davis of Tonganoxie from finishing the race. Senior Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City was Baker's No. 2 runner with a time of 28:42 to place 96th.

Woody Greeno

Senior Matt Hallauer of Holton placed 60th out of 292 finishers in the collegiate division at the Woody Greeno Invitational Saturday, Sep. 20 in Lincoln, Neb. Hallauer's time of 27:17 on the 8-kilometer course ranks him fifth on Baker's list of all-time fastest seniors.

Baker's first full-distance race of the year featured nearly 350 runners on the starting line including runners from other divisions. Senior Jimmy Gillispie of Baldwin City finished 166th with a time of 29:09 to place second on the team.

The Wildcats' next meet will be the Oklahoma State University Cowboy Jamboree Oct. 4 in Stillwater, Okla.

Pope

Maple Leaf

The men's cross country team finished in the middle of the pack at the Maple Leaf Invitational Saturday, Sep. 6 in Baldwin City.

The 'Cats placed fifth out of nine teams in Baker's traditional season opener. Senior Matt Hallauer placed 20th with a time of 16:55. Senior Jimmy Gillispie (35th in 17:46), senior Mike Donnelly (44th in 18:10), sophomore Alan Davis (46th in 18:13), and senior Cole Gladhart (52nd in 18:30) rounded out the scoring by running well as a group. In his first collegiate race, freshman Zach Pope placed 60th with a time of 18:55.

Hallauer said the race does not show how good Baker really is.

"The Maple Leaf is a real deceiving race," Hallauer said. "How a runner places in a 5k in early September is not very indicative of how that runner is going to place in an 8k in mid-November. We had some hard workouts this week and we're putting in a lot of mileage so come November our legs will be stronger than those runners who are taking it easy now."

Season Preview

In college athletics, potential turns into urgency quickly. The three sophomores who showed so much potential when they assaulted the record books in 2001 know that firsthand as they have one last chance to qualify for the national championships as a team.

"When we were sophomores, I thought we could be at the national championships as a team by our junior year," said senior Matt Hallauer, the only current Wildcat to qualify for nationals as an individual. "Now it's our senior year and I hope everyone on the team realizes that our last race is coming real quick and we need to be ready for it."

As a sophomore in 2001, Hallauer broke the school record Baldwin High School graduate Ryan Strong set in 1998 and became the first Wildcat to qualify for nationals since Strong. Two members of Baldwin High School's Class of 2000 also made big impressions as sophomores that year. Cole Gladhart broke into the Top 5 all-time and Gillispie grabbed the 16th spot. All three will be seniors this year.

The 'Cats have a fourth senior in Mike Donnelly, who led Baker in his first race in 1999 and was consistently a top three runner during his freshman and sophomore years. He had to redshirt his junior season because of an injury in 2001 when the trio of sophomores were running so well, and he continued to battle a nagging stomach ailment in 2002. He has been team captain the past two years.

Those four along with sophomore Alan Davis are expected to be Baker's five scoring runners in 2003. It's experience few other teams can compare to.

"We have the athletes to perform very well," said head coach Rob Mallinder, who has won three conference and two region titles with the women's cross country team in three years. "It's a very experienced team, a team that knows what they have to do to run well and have learned from their mistakes."

Of the five, Davis is the wild card. Even if he only runs as well as he did as a freshman, he could still be a top three runner. If he progresses as much as Mallinder expects him to, he could push Hallauer at the front spot. Gillispie, Gladhart and Hallauer cut an average of more than one minute off of their best times during their sophomore season. Davis has always been a high-mileage runner and had little problem adjusting to the longer distances required in collegiate cross country. Mallinder said the intellect gained between the freshman and sophomore years will be the main reason for Davis' improvement.

"He has experience, he knows what college is about now," Mallinder said. "He's learning it takes both intensity and endurance."

Freshman Zach Pope of Olathe is another wild card. Like Davis, he is a high-mileage runner. Like Hallauer, he is expected to improve considerably from high school to college under Mallinder's tutelage. Eventually, he could be better than any of his current teammates, but Mallinder said it will take time for Pope to develop.

Winning a Heart of America Athletic Conference or Region V title would be a major accomplishment against MidAmerica Nazarene University and Central Methodist College, two teams that were ranked in the Top 5 nationally throughout the 2002 season. But Mallinder firmly believes the 'Cats can beat rival William Jewell College, the HAAC's third team and the NAIA's 21st-best team at the national championships. Hallauer believes the Wildcats can, too.

"We've had the potential to do well for a few years now," Hallauer said. "It's just a matter of reaching our potential. Having a team of seniors should motivate us to finally do that."

Donnelly	Gladhart	Hallauer

May - Four members of the men's cross country team were named Heart of America Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes for their academic success during the 2002-03 academic year. Juniors Mike Donnelly, Cole Gladhart and Matt Hallauer and sophomore Matt Needham fulfilled the criteria set by the conference. The criteria are a minimum GPA of 3.40; a minimum of 60 semester hours, five semesters, and attended the nominating institution for at least two semesters prior to being nominated; and must be a varsity sport participant, having made a significant contribution to their team and school. Donnelly, Gladhart and Hallauer were named All-American Scholar-Athletes in November.