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December 1, 2003

2009 Season - 2003 Men's Cross Country Review

Randy Bill grabs MVP honors leading Augustana to top

10 team finishes in every meet during 2003 season

Senior Randy Bill (Bureau Valley HS, Buda, IL) was the top finisher in each of the seven meets participated in by the 2003 Augustana men’s cross country team. His selection as the Vikings Most Valuable Performer in a vote of his teammates comes as no surprise.

Both Bill and the Augustana team had tremendous years for veteran head coach Paul Olsen. For Bill, the individual honor comes after a season where he ran near the front in almost every race. He bounced back nicely after a junior year where he struggled with a stomach ailment that prevented him from finishing the Luther Invitational and the Brisbane/Linden Invitational.

He had no such problems this year as he began the season with a first place finish in the Augustana Open at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa on September 5. Then he was 17th at the Luther Invitational on September 13 and two weeks later ripped off a tremendous fifth place finish at the Brisbane/Linden Invitational with a time of 25:03 over five miles. He was eighth at the Note Dame Invitational on October fourth and 21st at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational on October 18. Bill placed third at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship meet that was held at Montrose Harbor in Chicago on November 1. He ran 25:26 for the five-mile event. Two weeks later he placed 22nd in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and with that finish he qualified for the NCAA Division III national meet at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana on November 22.

Bill’s great individual effort during the 2003 season helped lead the Vikings to great heights as a team. Augustana won its own Brissman/Lundeen Invitational on September 26 by scoring just 49 points, 24 fewer than second place Loras (73 points) in the 21 team event. It was the first win for Augustana at the Brissman/Lundeen meet since 1996. This was one of the top team performances that head coach Paul Olsen has seen from one of his teams in quite some time. All seven of the varsity runners placed in the top 20 individually.

After winning at the Brissman/Lundeen meet, the Vikings finished an impressive sixth at the Notre Dame Invitational and fourth at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational. Bill’s third place finish at the CCIW meet, the highest by an Augustana individual since Ambo Bati won the race in 1996, helped propel his team to a second place finish with 61 points – behind the winning total of 19 put up by North Central. The Vikings did not qualify for the NCAA Division III national meet, but they came close with a seventh place finish in the Midwest Regional.

Besides Bill winning the MVP award, Jeff Bailey (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, IL) was selected as the Most Valuable Freshman. Bailey started his career as the 10th man in the first meet but eventually worked his way into the top seven. Junior Mike Fusco (Rockford Christian HS, Rockford, IL) was tabbed as the Most Improved Performer while Ryan Chapman (Eureka HS, Congerville, IL) and Dan Erb (Winnebago HS, Winnebago, IL) shared the Lincoln Smith Most Inspirational Award.

2003 AUGUSTANA MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY SUPERLATIVES

Most Valuable Runner – Randy Bill

Most Valuable Freshman – Jeff Bailey

Most Improved Runner – Mike Fusco

Lincoln Smith Most Inspirational Runner Award – Ryan Chapman & Dan Erb

Team Captains 2003 – Randy Bill, Ryan Chapman & Chris Coon

NCAA Division III National Meet Qualifier – Randy Bill with 22nd place finish at Midwest Regional

CCIW Individual Top 10 Finish – Randy Bill (3rd)

College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Cross Country Championship

November 1, 2003 * Chicago, Illinois * Montrose Harbor

Team Scores

Individual Results:

2003 Augustana Men's Cross Country Letter Winners

Head Coach: Paul Olsen