MILWAUKEE – Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Mount Mary University cross country team's 2018 season. Since the head coach Eugene Miranda started the program in 2008, the Blue Angels have continued to see progress throughout each season. The top five runners continually remove chunks off their times by the seasons end, and MMU hopes to see that trend continue in 2018.
In 2017, the Blue Angels got off to a slow start with team placing. Working to cut times throughout the 2017 campaign, the Blue Angels finished 9-of-13, 8-of-14, and 11-of-13 in their first three meets. While still progressing as a team in those early events, MMU was still receiving standout performances from multiple individual Blue Angels despite the team's low early finishes.
As the Blue Angels do every season, the team drastically cut times and continued to finish higher and higher in team placings. MMU placed 9-of-15 at the Warrior Invite in Greenfield, Wis., then was able to finish 6-of-12 as a team at the Wisconsin Private College Championships.
The team then finished seventh in the 13-team Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship race in Mequon, Wis. In addition, then senior Jori Galles finished seventh while teammate Christina Ishaq (Sr./Milwaukee, Wis.) finished 20th out of the 88 registered runners at the championship.
Jori Galles then made history for the Blue Angels in her final collegiate race in 2017. While all her teammates who attended set their season's best times at the NCAA Regionals at Saukie Golf Course. The previous MMU six-kilometer record of 23:34.3 was set by Emily Barker ('14) in the 2013 NCAA Championships. At the exact same locale, Galles proved her own personal determination finishing with a 23:13.7 time at Saukie Golf Course thus setting the new record for the Blue Angels.
Although the only senior from last season, the running shoes of Jori Galles will be hard to fill. MMU returns multiple runners in 2018. Ishaq returns for her senior year, being the only runner on the roster to post a sub 25-minute time on a six-kilometer course.
Miranda Fluegge (So./Menomonee Falls, Wis.) also returns to the Blue Angels as well. The sophomore consistently cut time off her races in her first collegiate season running. Fluegge finished her first six-kilometer race of 2017 with a 32:33.6 time, but ended the year at the NCAA Regionals with a 27:38.2 time on a six-kilometer course.
With the addition of five more runners for 2018, the Blue Angels are primed and ready for the upcoming season. The continued success of the team has many excited for the upcoming campaign which features races across the region.
MMU will begin their season at the annual Tom Barry Invitational near the campus of St. Norbert College on Sat., Sept. 1. After that, the Blue Angels will travel across Wisconsin and Illinois throughout the next 10 weeks from Mequon, Wis. to Aurora, Ill. and six other locales in addition. For the full schedule check here.
Check back to MtMaryAthletics.com throughout the season for updates on times, stats and player info. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or sign up for email updates here.
