Ethan Kern
  • undeclared
  • Muskego, WI

Muskego's Kern Earns Spot on 2017 UW-Whitewater Men's Cross Country Roster

2017 Sep 13

Ethan Kern, a native of Muskego, WI, and graduate of Muskego High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's cross country team during the 2017 season, which begins this Saturday with the Tom Hoffman Invitational in Whitewater.

Kern, a sophomore at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in business.

Senior Brett Harms (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater), a two-time national qualifier and 2016 All-American, leads a men's team that is ranked 10th in the Midwest Region by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association heading into the campaign.



Harms placed ninth at last season's NCAA Midwest Regional race to lead the team to a 13th-place finish and earn his second consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships, where he finished 32nd overall. The two-time All-WIAC honoree holds the top personal best time on the team of 24:31.0, good for a tie for fifth in program history, in the 8-kilometer race.



Senior Alex Meixelsperger, juniors Jonah Nelson (Dodgeville, Wis./Dodgeville/Mineral Point) and Noah Stamsta (Waunakee, Wis./Waunakee) joined Harms as regulars among the top finishers on the team. Nelson finished second on the team at both the WIAC and NCAA Regional Championship meets last season and holds a personal best time of 25:53.3. Stamsta (26:23.80) finished among the top three on the team in all three races he competed in last season, and Meixelsperger (26:52.5) placed among the team's top five at each of his last four events.



Junior Todd Noreen (Dundee, Ill./Dundee-Crown) and sophomore Evan Seghers (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) each competed at the regional race in 2016. The two hold an identical personal best mark of 26:56.8.



Other returners include junior Braeden Michael (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls), sophomores Andrew Hirsch (Brookfield, Wis./Catholic Memorial), Clinten Woerishofer (Appleton, Wis./North) and Seth Zimdars (Ripon, Wis./Ripon).

After this Saturday's meet, which is also Senior Day and Parents Day at UW-Whitewater, the Warhawks visit Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill., for Augustana's Brissman-Lundeen Invitational on Sept. 22.



UW-Whitewater is also scheduled to compete at the Blugold Invitational on Sept. 29 at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis., and Principia's Cowbell Classic on Oct. 14 at the North Farm Course in Elsah, Ill., the site of this year's NCAA Championships.



Following a trip to the Oshkosh Open on Oct. 20, the Warhawks will host the WIAC Championships on Oct. 28. UW-Whitewater last hosted the conference meet in 2009.



After a two-week break, the teams will return to Rock Island, Ill., for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 11. One week later, any national qualifiers will make a return trip to Elsah, Ill., for the NCAA Division III Championships.