Viking senior Jim Vonnahme (Glidden, Iowa) represented the Grand View men's cross country team at the NAIA National Championships on Saturday morning in Vancouver, Washington. 

It was the second straight year Vonnahme qualified for the event.  He finished his collegiate cross country career on a high note as he broke the GV school record by eleven seconds posting an all-time personal best mark of 26:10 for the 8k course.  Jim improved his time by over a minute from last year's championship meet and placed 154th out of 312 competitors.  The previous 8k school record time of 26:21 was set by current Grand View assistant coach Brandon Bond in 2007 at the NAIA Region VII championship meet. 

The Midwest Collegiate Conference men's cross country all-conference honors for the 2011 season were announced on Saturday, Nov. 5, at the conclusion of the MCC Championships held at the Dubuque Soccer Complex.

For the second straight year, senior Jim Vonnahme (Glidden, Iowa) was named to the MCC First Team. Vonnahme placed second at the MCC Championships with a time of 27:32.0 to qualify for the NAIA Championships for the second the second time; he also qualified in 2011. Sophomore Justin Welsh (Altoona, Iowa) earned Honorable Mention honors.

The Viking men's cross country scored 96 to finish fourth at the MCC Championships held today in Clinton. Mount Mercy collected the MCC title with 29 points, followed by St. Ambrose (69), and Ashford (75) to round out the top three.

Highlighting the meet for GV was senior Jim Vonnahme (Glidden, Iowa) who placed second with a time of 27:32.0 to earn MCC All-Conference honors and qualify for the NAIA Championships for the second straight year.

Sophomore Justin Welsh (Altoona, Iowa) ran a 29:00.3 to place 14^thand earn MCC Honorable Mention honors.
 

Chris Nealy placed 65^thout of 209 runners in a personal best 8k time of 27:12 at the NAIA Mid-States Classic hosted by Southwestern College.  He led the Vikings to a 15^thplace team finish out of 21 teams.

Along with Nealy, three of the four other Viking finishers ran personal best 8k times. Justin Welsh, Taelor Bohnsack and Justin Bond were the other Vikings running personal bests.

 Welsh finished in 101^st place running a 28:18. Bohnsack's personal best time put him in 129^th place finishing his 8k in 29:00 and Bond came in 131^st with a PR of 29:05. Drew Messerschmidt was the fifth Viking to finish the 8k. He came in behind Welsh in 116^th out of the 209 runners in a time of 28:35.

The Vikings next competition is on November 5^th. The Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships will be held in Dubuque, Iowa starting at 10:00 a.m.

Jim Vonnahme a Viking senior from Glidden, Iowa was awarded the Midwest Collegiate Conference cross country Runner of the Week award.  

Vonnahme was recognized for his finish at the Loras College Dr. Tucker Invitational. He finished an 8k course in eighth place with a time of 27:29. This led the Vikings to a fourth place finish overall. Vonnahme has led the Vikings in four straight races as the team has finished in the top five in the last two races.

The Vikings will compete again this Saturday, October 22^nd, at the NAIA Mid-States Classic. The race will begin at 10:00 a.m. in Winfield, Kansas.