In her senior season, Katie Mona, health promotions major, has been nothing less than dominant. Her early season success can be attributed to hard work and determination. One would not expect the quiet, shy and modest Mona to be a dominant force on the oval track.

Growing up in Illinois, Mona competed in gymnastics. She moved to Kansas and started attending Olathe Northwest. It was not until her sophomore year that she joined the track and field team.

“I am very timid and shy, so gymnastics didn’t work for me growing up,” Mona said. “Then I just kind of changed with my friends and decided to go run. I started running track and field as a sophomore. I then started running cross-country when I was a junior. Then I just kept working at both.”

Mona runs the 800 meter, mile and the 3k. Occasionally, she will compete in the 4X4 relay. According to ESU’s website, Mona dominated at the University of Central Missouri Invitational Meet on Jan. 20. Mona shattered a 21-year-old building record and 4-year-old ESU record in winning the women’s 3000 meter run.

Her time of 9:47.15 bettered Pittsburg State’s Christie Allen’s Multipurpose Building record of 10:05.26 set in 1991, and Jonel Rossbach’s ESU record of 9:50.39 set at Iowa State in 2008.

“She is really fun to watch,” said Steve Blocker, head coach. “She is running a little care-free right now, and I think she feels the confidence from that. She has put in the work without a doubt. The cumulative effect of the three years of training is paying off for us now. Her dedication speaks for itself.”

Katie has consistently improved each season. Her times have increased with hard work and determination while working through injuries.

“I have been improving my times from previous years,” Mona said. “I had an injury, stress fracture twice. I think that coming back from that, I feel a lot stronger, and it is kind of showing in my times this season.”

Although Mona is reserved, her teammates have noticed her hard work and determination. She was voted a team captain for the 2012 season.

“It’s an honor to be named captain,” Mona said. “We have several captains overall, and I’m glad to be noticed by my teammates. It’s nice to know that they look up to me and would nominate me to be a captain.”

Marcus Hix

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The Emporia State track team performed well in their midweek open yesterday in a meet that saw a majority of the

Emporia State junior Katie Mona passes senior Kathryn Davison on their way to the finish line in the women’s 800-meter dash during the ESU Midweek Open Wednesday night at Welch Stadium. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

 events won by the Hornets. Despite the event being relatively small, Head Coach David Harris was pleased with the effort he saw.

            “This meet’s twofold,” Harris said. “We wanted a tune up one last time before Drake (this weekend)… The other part of it is that many of these athletes now this is their last competition before the conference (meet). It’s 10 days out, so we felt like we wanted to give them one more opportunity without traveling somewhere.”

            Those athletes gearing up for this weekend’s meet against Drake included runners in the 800 meter run. Coming in first and second respectively were Katie Mona and Kathryn Davison. Mona finished the 800m in 2:14.47 as Davison finished right behind her in 2:15.23.

            “We were trying to get faster times to go to Nationals,” Davison said. “I don’t know if it’s just the weather or if we needed that higher competition level, but it was a good workout.”

            The men saw their own success in the 800 meter as Will Hohmeier finished in first place. After the race, Hohmeier commented on the preparation the run got him for this weekend’s race in Drake.

            “It was definitely an effort just to get ready for this weekend in Drake,” Hohmeier said. “In the eight (hundred meter), we had a lot of guys in it, so everyone had someone to work with. It was a good race.”

            Other Hornets who earned first place finishes for ESU included Kevin Roulhac in the discus throw with a distance of 172-03. Deja Jackson also fared well picking up a first place finish in the women’s discus throw throwing for 152-00.

            The women also took the first three spots in the shot put as Valeria Jordan finished first followed by Elizabeth Lewis and Ashley Watkins respectively. Freshman Andrew Etheridge picked up a first place finish in the 110m hurdles as well with his time of 14.54.

            The Hornets are now looking forward to this weekend’s big meet at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The event will be one of the bigger ones for ESU this year and is a prelude to the MIAA Championships which will be held at Witten Track on May 7-8.

            “Drake is a fun relay meet,” Harris said. “We’re not going up there to run any individual events… We’re going up there to run relays in one of the greatest relay carnivals in the country. It is just a fun environment to compete in.”

Brandon Schneeberger

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In an event that saw nearly 1,000 collegiate athletes compete, Emporia State set two school records, had 12 provisional qualifiers and had two automatic qualifiers in the ESU Relays at Witten Track.

            “I’m just very happy with the meet,” said Head Coach David Harris. “In fact I’m elated that we were able to run this many competitors through a meet in one day at Emporia State. I believe we did a good job. I was very happy with our team. They came to work and help, and, of course, they came to compete.”

            Josh Schuler tore things up for the men in winning the 100m dash as well as tying an ESU record of 10.29 seconds in the event. Schuler also won the 200m dash and helped the 4×100 relay team win with a time of 40.79 which is second best in ESU history.

            “I was a little disappointed with our time,” Schuler said. “But I mean it was a good day to run, and our hand offs were good, so I felt great about it. I thought we ran faster.”

            Derwin Hall, Ryan Dickson and Shjuan Richardson were also responsible for the first place finish.

            “I felt like we had a good race,” Hall said. “Everybody’s hand offs looked really crisp and solid. I think the wind kind of bothered us a little bit. But we still ran the same time we ran last week, so that’s good.”

            Other top performers for the men included Josh Honeycutt in the triple jump and long jump in which he finished second and sixth respectively.

Briar Ploude (first place) and Marcus Calleja (fifth place) earned provisionals in the high jump as Kevin Roulhac in the hammer throw (third) and discus (fourth) also earned a provisional. Bret Gross earned a championship for ESU finishing first in the pole vault.

For the ESU women, Jennifer Robinson and Deja Jackson both earned provisionals. Robinson earned hers placing second in the high jump with a jump at 5-07.00. Jackson threw for 143-08 and placed fourth in the discus to earn hers.

“Certainly on the women’s side, we had two seconds (Robinson and Katie Mona) that did really well,” Harris said. “Two seconds in a meet like this is a good performance.”

Katie Mona was the other second place finish with her time of 4:40.47 in the 1500m. Mona placed second in the event behind Kansas State’s Sara Stoakes. After leading down the stretch, she lost to Stoakes by just .51 seconds.

“I had been drafting off of her for awhile, so once I actually got the wind, it felt a lot harder, and I just didn’t have enough at the end, the last 100,” Mona said.

The Hornets look to continue their success this year on Thursday and Friday at Witten Track as they compete in the ESU combined Multis.

Brandon Schneeberger

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It’s unfortunate, but Emporia State is missing out. I’m not just referring to the obvious shortcomings that may come while living in a small town like Emporia. I’m referring to the Emporia State men’s – and women’s – indoor track team.

Now this isn’t meant to bash ESU for not having an indoor track facility. Like cash, those don’t grow on trees. I’m simply referring to fact that we are all missing out on getting to watch this great track team in action. Unless, of course, you’ve been traveling all over the Midwest to watch the team.

The simple truth is that the current ESU indoor track team is not good, but great– especially on the men’s side of things. This year alone, there have been two ESU school records broken – both by the same person, Kevin Roulhac – in two consecutive weeks. Roulhac first set the school record in the weight throw before breaking his own record the following week.

In addition, Katie Mona ran to third place all time this past weekend in Lincoln, Neb., with her mile time of 4:56.40. Andrew Etheridge, a freshmen, also moved up in the ESU record book with his 60m run in just 8.10 last weekend. He’s now second all-time at ESU.

I consider myself a fair-weather runner. It’s natural for me to enjoy watching others excel at running, and it’s something that I look forward to every time the Olympics roll around. Likewise, it would be nice to get to see our athletes at ESU do these remarkable feats in person.

Furthermore, and perhaps a better reason, is the need for more options here. Basketball is great – don’t get me wrong. In fact, basketball is my favorite sport. But we need a little more variety come this time of year here at Emporia State.

Basketball will always be king – or queen – this time of year, and perhaps it should be, but our track stars need some of the glory passed on to them every now and then as well. They too should have the opportunity to have their friends come out and support them.

It would be nice for Emporia State students to be able to see these athletes in action. Unfortunately, students will have to wait for the spring track season to catch a glimpse. The least we can do for now is to continue to follow the team and the individuals as they gear up for the conference tournament and the national championships.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Will Hohmeier and Katie Mona each earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors last Saturday at the 2010 MIAA Cross Country Championships. The event was held at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. The two runners lead Emporia State to a seventh place finish for the women’s team, as the men placed eighth.

For the women, Pittsburgh State would take home the MIAA championship with Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri rounding out the top three teams respectfully. Mona would earn her MIAA honors after finishing 13^th with a time of 22:23 that lead the Hornets. Kathryn Davison would finish in 22:57 and place 22^nd for the Hornets. ESU had four more runners finish in the next two minutes to take home their seventh place finish.

On the men’s side, ESU finished eighth out of eight teams competing with nine runners finishing the race. Central Missouri would take home the MIAA crown on the men’s side with Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri finishing second and third respectively. Will Hohmeier finished 16^th overall to lead the Hornets after posting a time of 25:20. Asher Delmott finished with a time of 25:42 to take the 24^th position overall, as he was one of the five Hornets to place in the top 50 runners.

Regionals for both teams are set for Nov. 20 in Warrensburg, MO.

Chris Hopkins

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Mona

After an injury kept her out of the usual lineup for the Emporia State Cross Country team, junior and former MIAA champion Katie Mona has returned for the Hornets this season. The return has not gone unnoticed by the team.

“I think she’s looked very good,” said Head Coach David Harris. “She’s not 100 percent… I know she will relish the day when she can be 100 percent and not have pain in her foot. Right now she’s giving everything she can, so I really credit her for what she’s able to do.”

What could be a more impressive feat is the relative lack of experience for Mona. Originally form Lenexa, Mona attended Olathe Northwest High School and didn’t begin running cross country until her junior year.  After school she decided Emporia State would be a good fit.

“I picked Emporia because of the size and location,” Mona said. “At first I wanted to be an elementary education major, and they have a really good program here for that, but I ended up switching majors anyways.”

For Mona, Emporia has so far been a good choice as she has already become a two-time national qualifier and an MIAA champion in the mile run last year with a time of 4:57.

Unfortunately for Mona, a stress fracture in her foot has kept her out of the first half of this year’s cross country season.

“I couldn’t run, I couldn’t swim for awhile, and then I got back into biking. And then the second time I got a stress fracture again, in the same spot, I could only swim for six weeks,” Mona said.

Despite suffering the stress fracture, Mona has been able to be the high point’s scorer for the women’s team upon her return even placing first in the Tabor Invitational, her first meet since returning from injury.

Senior runner Kathryn Davison who has been running with Mona for three years recognizes Mona’s impact.

“She’s our highest point scorer, so when we found out she might not be able to run, it was kind of a hurting situation, but she’s a quick healer. It’s that natural talent that she has for her to come back so fast.”

Mona, a junior health promotions major, is gearing up for the MIAA championships set to take place on Nov. 6.

“She’s a really amazing athlete, she’s got natural talent. She’s just an all-around good athlete,” Davison said.

Brandon Schneeberger/The Bulletin

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Out of 16 teams, the Hornet women’s cross country team was able to post a third place finish in the Yellowjacket Classic in Lamoni, IA this weekend due to placing four runners in the top 30. Katie Mona once again led the women with a 12^th place finish and a time of 19:14. She was followed by Amy Feldkamp who posted a time of 19:36. The Hornet men were not as fortunate, only placing one runner in the top 30. Asher Delmott led the way for the men again with a 26^th place finish and a time of 26:51. He was followed by Will Hohmeier who placed 42^nd with a time of 27:22. The Hornets look to continue their success this season in the MIAA Championships on Nov 6 in Hays, Kan.
Brandon Schneeberger

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The Emporia State men’s and women’s cross country teams held their final home meet this Friday at Jones park. The women were once again led by Katie Mona who finished thirteenth overall. Will Hohmeier led the way for the men placing fifteenth. The men were able to land a second place finish in the 8K as the women finished sixth overall in the 5K.

“Overall I was pretty proud of my race,” Hohmeier said. “I looked at my time when I finished, and it was about the same time I ran for conference last year, so I’m a little ahead of shape than I was last year. Fifteenth out of a 250 man race is pretty good.”

For the Hornets, Asher Delmott once again was one of the top runners finishing 21^st overall. He was followed by Jacob Bull, 26^th, and Marcus Portofee, 31^st. Although he may not have placed as high as he did, Delmott was able to put together his personal record for the Hornets finishing in 26:06.88.

“My time was pretty good. I would have liked to place a little higher. I really would have liked to get under 26 (minutes),” Delmott said. “This is my PR for the 8K, so can’t be disappointed with that, but still gotta just keep pushing.”

Katie Mona continued her impressive performance in her return from injury. Finishing in 13^th place, Mona ran the 5K in 18:59.46. The Hornets were able to place four runners in the top fifty. Amy Feldkamp, Kathryn Davison, and Courtney Maddux finished 25^th, 36th, and 48^th respectively. Sydney Oltjen finished 51^st.

“It wasn’t as good as I would have hoped… but for this year I’m happy with it, just getting back to running,” Mona said.

Out of 202 runners and 22 teams the women able to finish sixth overall as a team. Though disappointed with the outcome for the women, Head Coach David Harris was still pleased with his team’s effort.

“We need to do well in our home meet,” Harris said. “I’m disappointed with sixth, but we’ll take that today. There’s a lot of good teams here, and a lot more teams we’ve ever faced before, so we’re going to take sixth… and we’re just going to have to work hard the next three weeks.”

The cross country teams look to continue to improve on their times. Their next meet is the Graceland Yellowjacket Classic in Lamonia, IA on Oct. 23.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Katie Mona made the most of her season debut this Saturday in the Tabor Invitational placing first overall. Mona helped carry the women’s team to a first place overall finish out of 11 teams, finishing a whole 10 seconds over first place. The ESU women were able to land three more top 10 finishes. Amy Feldkamp finished fourth overall followed by Courtney Maddux, sixth, and Sydney Oltjen, ninth.

The ESU men also looked impressive with a second place finish out of ten total teams. Once again Asher Delmott led the way for the Hornets with a sixth place finish. Will Hohmeier also finished in the top ten with a ninth place finish. The ESU Men were able to place every runner in the top thirty to secure the second place finish. Next week ESU will compete in the ESU Invitational at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Freshman cross country runner and track and field distance runner Katie Mona helped the indoor track medley relay team set a conference record.

“I wanted to know what time I had finished with,” Mona said. “When coach had told us we got the record that was really exciting and it is neat to be a part of that.”

Track and field head coach David Harris is proud of Mona’s accomplishments.

“She is one of our freshmen that has been really successful this year,” Harris said. “You hope that every freshman can make a contribution like she has.”

Harris said that, despite being a freshman, Mona has taken a position of leadership on the team.

“She is a very talented distance runner,” Harris said. “She pushes herself in practice and she has become a leader.”

Mona is an 18-year-old elementary education major.

“I like to be around children,” Mona said. “I like the creative side of the profession.”

Mona was born in Huston, Texas where she lived for a short time. She moved to Illinois where she lived until the eighth grade, when she moved to Kansas.

“I was younger when we moved around,” Mona said. “It was kind of hard to move from Illinois to Kansas because that was where I had made a lot friends and the place I had grown up.”

Mona said that athletics was not her reason for attending Emporia State.

“I chose to attend Emporia State because of the teaching program,” Mona said. “Sports had nothing to do with my decision.”

Mona said that her greatest achievement is working hard every day.

“Being able to push myself because I know that is hard,” Mona said. “Our coach helps us with that during practice.”

But despite all of her recent accomplishments, Mona remains grounded in the reality that her performance is sometimes a work-in-progress.

“Sometimes I am disappointed with how I performed,” Mona said. “At the end of the indoor season I kept finishing slower and I was getting tired.”

Regardless of her performance from one week to the next, Harris appreciates her contributions to the team as a whole.

“She adds a sense of confidence to the rest of the squad,” Harris said. “She is the anchor of the distance medley team in which she helped set a conference record.”

Mona said that her teammates have helped her be successful at the college level.

“I like my teammates because we have really connected,” Mona said. ““We help each other out.”

But sometimes, the pressure to perform in track and field can become overwhelming, even for the best athletes.

“There is pressure to do better at each meet,” Mona said. “There is always pressure to come out and compete.”

For Mona, a dedicated group of family and friends does a lot to ease any negative aspects of competition.

“My parents are always at all of the meets,” Mona said. “They are very supportive and loving… I am quiet but I am very competitive. I always push myself to do the best I can.”

Matthew Pierce/The Bulletin

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