Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference is celebrating its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level.
40 TEAMS l 40 YEARS
WEEK 4: 2007 University of Wisconsin-Parkside Women’s Cross Country
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2007 University of Wisconsin-Parkside women’s cross country team captured its fourth-straight GLVC Championship on the 6,000-meter course at the varsity fields on the campus of Butler University. The Rangers tallied 46 points on the day, 29 markers ahead of runner-up Southern Indiana. Parkside, which entered the GLVC Championships ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA Top 25 Poll and second in the Great Lakes Region, claimed three of the top five positions, including GLVC Champion Jessica Lamp (21:38.09), runner-up Naomi Fulton (21:48.08) and fifth-place finisher Valerie Hubbard (22:32.77). The Rangers swept the league’s major postseason honors as Lamp was named GLVC Runner of the Year, Hope Christie was tabbed Freshman of the Year, and Mike DeWitt was voted by his peers as Coach of the Year. Parkside went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional, which was hosted by then-GLVC member SIU Edwardsville. Southern Indiana earned the final qualifying spot with a fourth-place finish. At the NCAA Championships, the Rangers placed 12th with 303 points, followed by Southern Indiana in 19th with 421 points. Individually, Lamp crossed the line 14th in a time of 21:07.9, ahead of USI’s Mary Ballinger (21:20.1) in 17th, and Parkside’s Naomi Fulton (21:44.9) and Valerie Hubbard (21:54.2) in 33rd and 43rd, respectively. At the conclusion of the season, Parkside was awarded the GLVC Sportsmanship Award in women’s cross country.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Jessica Lamp
- Recorded her first of two straight GLVC Championships and GLVC Runner of the Year honors with a winning time of 21 minutes, 38.09 seconds
- Effort was the then the third-fastest winning time in GLVC history
- Earned her second of three consecutive All-GLVC honors
- Picked up All-Region honors by finishing second out of 153 runners in 21:32 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
- Finished 14th at the NCAA Championships in 21:07.9
Naomi Fulton
- Finished second overall at the 2007 GLVC Championships in 21:48
- Earned her third straight All-GLVC accolade
- Posted All-Region distinction with fourth-place finish in 21:39 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
- Finished 33rd at the NCAA Championships in 21:44.9
Valerie Hubbard
- Finished fifth overall at the 2007 GLVC Championships in 22:32
- Earned second All-GLVC award
- Garnered All-Region accolades with 14th-place finish in 22:14 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
- Finished 43rd at the NCAA Championships in 21:54.2
Hope Christie
- Finished 13th overall at the 2007 GLVC Championships in 23:35
- Became the school’s second newcomer to be named GLVC Freshman of the Year
- Placed 48th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in 23:20
- Finished 128th at the NCAA Championships in 23:28.0
Mike DeWitt, Head Coach
- Earned his fourth consecutive and seventh overall GLVC Coach of the Year honor
LASTING LEGACY
The 2007 GLVC Championship was UW-Parkside’s eighth and final women’s cross country title, which currently ranks third all-time in league history behind Southern Indiana (12) and Ashland (9). The Rangers’ first crown came in 1995, but the last seven came during an eight-year span between 2000-07 with the lone “off year” being 2003 when they finished third. Jessica Lamp, who won her second GLVC title the following year under the name Jessica (Lamp) Monson, is one of just eight women to have won back-to-back Conference crowns. Hope Christie, who garnered GLVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2007, went on to finish third and sixth at the 2010 and 2011 GLVC Championships, respectively, and later earned the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award following the 2011-12 season as the GLVC Female Athlete of the Year. Following his stint in Kenosha, seven-time GLVC Coach of the Year Mike DeWitt made his return to the GLVC to close out his coaching career at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he was hired Feb. 2, 2015 to build the men’s and women’s programs from scratch. After more than 30 years coaching, DeWitt retired on July 11, 2018. In the nine years since the 2007 title, UW-Parkside finished in the top three of the team standings on six occasions. UW-Parkside competed in the GLVC until resigning as a member on June 30, 2018.