From ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils withstood an early 3-point assault by William Jewell’s JV and rolled to their seventh straight win 104-61 at the KCKCC Field House Thursday night.

Hitting four of their first five 3-point shots and six of their first nine attempts overall, the Cardinals raced to an early 22-17 lead. However, KCKCC ran off the next 15 points to take a 32-22 lead en route to a 39-32 halftime lead and then broke it open with 57.6 percent second half shooting.

KCKCC returns to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Penn Valley, an arch-rival ranked No. 3 in Division II.

Jonathan Wright led KCKCC with a career high 18 points including eight in the first five minutes while Melvin Gatson added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting along with a game high five assists. Derick Denny chipped in with 15 points including 3-of-4 three-pointers while Brett Jones and Monty Taylor scored 12 each Andre Metoyer 10.

Metoyer had a double double with 10 rebounds to go along with his 10 points while Hal Payne just missed with eight points and nine rebounds. The Blue Devils finished with 52.3 percent shooting for the game and enjoyed a 58-32 rebounding advantage while committing just nine turnovers.
 
 

The Kansas City, Kan., Football League's head coaches voted recently on the league's All-League Team.

Broken down by team:

Sumner Academy

FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE

• Torrell Saffold, FS
• Eric Whickliffe, LB
• Dymon Johnson
• Armond Brisbane, QB
• Adam Pack, C
• Vernon Vaughn, TE
• Benny Parker, Special Teams
• Eli Alexander, WR
• Marcus Allen, WR

HONORABLE MENTION

• James Williams
• TJ Wynn
• Garrett Mumphries

Washington

FIRST TEAM

• Levante Bryant, OL
• Deandre Clark, P
• Tim Good, LB
• Darrell Walker, DB

HONORABLE MENTION

• Clayton Young, FS
• Andy Patrzykont, DL
• Davon Carr, DL
• Deangelo Bradley, DL

Schlagle

FIRST TEAM

• Herman Ming, QB, LB, CB
• Taylor Wallace, OL
• Jeff Jones, RB
• TaiJuane Daniels, LB
• Eddie London, LB
• LeRoy Cheffon, DB

HONORABLE MENTION

• Montell White, DL
• LeAnthony Taylor, WR

Harmon

FIRST TEAM

• John Zeno, RB
• Marshawn Hargrove, LB
• Okeye Nyoudweh, LB/P
• Shaquille Simmons, DT
• Darrin Hawkins, LB
• Chris Richard, S

HONORABLE MENTION

• Marquise Cooper, OL//DE           
• Vanderbuilt Sheilds, OL
• Dominck Rodriguez, DB    
• Jervon Hooks 5'5, DB/WR           
• Cornell Duley
• Vanderbelt Sheilds, OL
• Martin Hernandez, OL/DL
• Kamile Gardner, DL

Wyandotte

FIRST TEAM

• Tyran Smith, DB

HONORABLE MENTION

• Alex Hamilton, DB
• Ledarious Kirkindol, DB
• Jaunte Collins, WR/DB

By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

Fresh from winning a pressure-packed three-point shootout Saturday night, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s unbeaten Blue Devil men stretched their unbeaten record to 6-0 with a 78-52 win over Ottawa JV Monday night.

Home again Thursday at 7 p.m. against William Jewell’s JV, the win over Ottawa was the third in four days for the Blue Devils, who defeated Kansas Wesleyan’s JV 75-58 Friday and Brown Mackie 93-88 Saturday in the Brown Mackie Classic in Salina.

However, the KCKCC women had their four-game winning streak snapped by a 74-55 loss to Brown Mackie Saturday after a 68-54 Friday win over Hesston.

The Blue Devil men overcame Brown Mackie’s 57.4 percent shooting despite not being at full strength. Freshman Dennis Tinnon, the leading rebounder and second leading scorer, is out two to four weeks with a stress reaction in his left foot while scoring leader Derick Denny had to play without his contact lenses because of an eye infection.

Brown Mackie probably wished he’d had the contacts as Denny poured in a career high 35 points including 5 of 6 three-pointers in the first half. He finished 10 of 16 from the field including 8 of 13 treys and 7 of 8 free throws in what was a terrific battle of long range shooting.

Brown Mackie, which shot 64.5 percent the first half for a 49-47 lead, was 12 of 23 (.522) from three-point while KCKCC was 11 of 20 (.550) and 48.1 percent for the game.

Scott Fruehling added 14 points for KCKCC including 3-for-3 from distance while Jonathan Wright added 11 points and Monty Taylor 10. Although just 5-10, Melvin Gatson led in rebounds with six along with seven assists and seven points in a game that had 14 ties and 14 lead changes.

Andre Metoyer scored a career high 18 points and Hal Payne grabbed a career best 15 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils past Kansas Wesleyan. Metoyer was 8 of 10 from the field and added six rebounds. Frosh Monty Taylor also had a career high 15 points while Denny added 11 points, Fruehling 10, 9 and Payne 8.

KCKCC got contributions from many in the win over Ottawa’s JV. Fruehling led the scoring with 14 points while Gatson added 13, Denny and Taylor 12 each and Brett Jones 8; Wright had 9 rebounds, Payne 8 and Metoyer 7 as the Blue Devils dominated the boards 50-28; and Justin Dobler led in assists with four.

Four Lady Blue Devils scored in double figures as they won their fourth in a row 68-54 over Haskell Friday. Sarah Craft had 15 points, Alyssa Rushton 14 and Jerae David and Michelle Selbe 12 each as the Blue Devils shot 51 percent. Craft and Lori Schreiber led rebounding with eight each. 

Brown Mackie outscored KCKCC 21-3 from the three-point line in handing the Blue Devil women their first loss 74-53. The winners also got 20 points each and a combined 17 rebounds from Neasha Haynes and Danielle Smith and converted 23 KCKCC turnovers into 21 points.

Craft and Laci Schreiber each had 15 points and Michele Selbe and Alyssa Rushton 7 apiece for KCKCC. Schreiber also led all rebounders with 12 while Selbe, Rushton and Shannon Carlin each had seven.

Members of the Kansas City Chiefs' "Chiefs Women's Organization" will take part feeding the under-served this Wednesday at Cross-Lines Food Kitchen.

The event will be held Wednesday from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

The Chiefs Women's Organization is an organization composed of wives, fiancées and significant others of the players from the team. The Chiefs will also recognize five volunteers at the kitchen and over 100 are expected to be served.

The Sports Turf Managers Association has named CommunityAmerica Ballpark's playing surface the Professional Soccer Field of the Year.

A panel of six judges scored the field based on playability, appearance of playing surfaces, innovative solutions, effective use of budget and the development of a sound agronomic program.

"This is a well-deserved award for Jay Griggs, Justin Bland and Michael Moyer," Kansas City Wizards Manager Peter Vermes said. "Those guys do an unbelievable job every week to get the field at CAB ready for Major League Soccer matches. Players in our League cover a lot of ground and put a lot of wear and tear into a field. Making the changes that we make on an every-game basis and keeping the playing surface in world-class condition is a testament to the hard work and ability of our grounds crew."
 
The Wizards join the Green Bay Packers, among others, as award winners. The award is especially well earned considering the team shares its field with the Kansas City T-Bones.

"This was a great effort from the entire Wizards grounds crew to get the field at CAB ready for Major League Soccer," said Griggs, who is the Wizards Sports Field Operations Manager for CommunityAmerica Ballpark. "Our Wizards crew removed sod and dirt nine different times and installed dirt and sod eight different times this season to complete the conversion to soccer. Our job is to provide a first-class playing surface for MLS games, and this award acknowledges that effort."

Griggs and the ground crew will be presented their award at ceremony in Lake Buena Vista, Flor.

By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

Fresh from winning a pressure-packed three-point shootout Saturday night, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s unbeaten Blue Devil men are right back in action tonight against Ottawa”s JV at 7 p.m. in the KCKCC Field House.

The Blue Devils ran their record to 5-0 over the weekend by beating Kansas Wesleyan’s JV 75-58 and Brown Mackie 93-88 in the Brown Mackie Classic in Salina but the KCKCC women had their four-game winning snapped by a 74-55 loss to Brown Mackie Saturday after a 68-54 win over Hesston on Friday.

The Blue Devil men overcame Brown Mackie’s 57.4 percent shooting despite not being at full strength.

Freshman Dennis Tinnon, the leading rebounder and second leading scorer, is out two to four weeks with a stress reaction in his left foot while scoring leader Derick Denny had to play without his contact lenses because of an eye infection.

Brown Mackie probably wished he’d had the contacts as Denny poured in a career high 35 points including 5 of 6 three-pointers in the first half.

He finished 10 of 16 from the field including 8 of 13 treys and 7 of 8 free throws in what was a terrific battle of long range shooting.

Brown Mackie, which shot 64.5 percent the first half for a 49-47 lead, was 12 of 23 (.522) from three-point while KCKCC was 11 of 20 (.550) from three-point and 48.1 percent for the game.

Scott Fruehling added 14 points for KCKCC including 3-for-3 from distance while Jonathan Wright added 11 points and Monty Taylor 10.

Although just 5-10, Melvin Gatson led in rebounds with six along with seven assists and seven points in a game that had 14 ties and 14 lead changes.

Andre Metoyer scored a career high 18 points and Hal Payne grabbed a career best 15 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils past Kansas Wesleyan. Metoyer was 8 of 10 from the field and added six rebounds.

Frosh Monty Taylor also had a career high 15 points while Denny added 11 points, Fruehling 10, 9 and Payne 8.

Four Lady Blue Devils scored in double figures as they won their fourth in a row 68-54 over Haskell Friday. Sarah Craft had 15 points, Alyssa Rushton 14 and Jerae David and Michelle Selbe 12 each as the Blue Devils shot 51 percent from the field. Craft and Lori Schreiber led rebounding with eight each.ras, 

Mackie Brown outscored KCKCC 21-3 from the three-point line in handing the Blue Devil women their first loss 74-53. The winners also got 20 points each and a combined 17 rebounds from Neasha Haynes and Danielle Smith and converted 23 KCKCC turnovers in 21 points.

Craft and Laci Schreiber each had 15 and Michele Selbe and Alyssa Rushton 7 apiece for KCKCC. Schreiber also led all rebounders with 12 while Selbe, Rushton and Shannon Carlin each had seven.

Just as the boys head coaches did earlier this week, girls basketball coaches from the Kansas City, Kan., League released their predictions this week.

The five coaches in the league expect the Schlagle Lady Stallions to win league. Schlagle tied with the Sumner Academy Lady Sabres for last year's title. The Lady Sabres are selected second in this year's poll.

Schlagle is lead by the trio of Erin Copeland, Paris Johnson (pictured above) and Michaela White.

Meanwhile, Sumner Academy is led by Kathleen Brisbane and Sameia Kendall, who was selected as the league's preseason player of the year.

The Washington Lady Wildcats were selected to finish third in the league, Wyandotte fourth and Harmon fifth.

The league's Elite Eight players:

• Sameia Kendall, Sumner Academy
• Erin Copeland, Schlagle
• Sara Dominguez, Harmon
• Marisha Henderson, Washington
• Royce Shields, Wyandotte
• Kathleen Brisbane, Sumner Academy
• Paris Johnson, Schlagle
• Michaela White, Schlagle

Flanked by (from left) coaches Mike Sylvara, Jon Oler and Bill Sloan (right), Kansas City Kansas Community College scoring leader Derick Denny signed a letter of intent Wednesday to attend Jacksonville State, a Division I member in Jacksonville, Ala. Also on hand were teammates (standing from left) Andre Metoyer, Chad Bailey, Scott Fruehling, Dennis Tinnon and Kevin Lysaught. (KCKCC Photo by Alan Hoskins)

By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

Deadly shooting guard Derick Denny is headed for Jacksonville State University ater he finishes what could be a record-setting scoring career at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

A 6-4 sophomore from Green Bay, Wis., Denny signed a letter of intent awarding him a full scholarship in front of family, friends and teammates Wednesday, Nov. 11.

With 15 three-point goals in 29 attempts (.517) in the Blue Devils’ first three games this season, Denny is on pace to set KCKCC records for three-point goals in a season (161) and career (190) and shooting percentage from three-point (.465).

His 108 three-point goals last season are third on the all-time list and No. 8 on the career list and his three-point percentage of .450 as a frosh is second all-time.

He’s also No. 2 on the list for shooting percentage for a single game, hitting 7 of 8 three-point shots against Haskell for 87.5 percent. Denny followed up the 7 of 8 performance with a career high 29 points in a 75-67 win over North Arkansas which included 7 of 14 three-pointers.

The Blue Devil scoring leader at 19.7 this season, Denny also led last year at 13.3 and finished the 2008-09 season with 55 three-point goals in his final 11 games despite double and triple-teaming by the talent-loaded Kansas Jayhawk Conference.

“He’s the best shooter I’ve coached,” said Blue Devil mentor Jon Oler. “I’ve had some good shooters but he’s far and away the best at getting off his shot. He really moves hard off screens and has the ability to cut to get open. Even the other night when North Ark knew he would be shooting threes, he got off 14 shots.”

Despite getting mounting inquiries from other Division I colleges, Denny decided to sign early in order to concentrate on the upcoming season.

“It was a security thing. They’re going to take care of me and my family with room, board and tuition and I really felt comfortable there,” said Denny, who has a 2-year-old son, Greg, with longtime significant other, Dahlia Munoz, who is also attending KCKCC. “Also, it’s in a good location close to Atlanta.”

A Division I university located in Jacksonville, Ala., about 45 minutes from Atlanta, Jacksonville State is coached by Jerry Green, who is in his second season as head coach after taking Mississippi State to the NCAA Division I tournament in 2008. “They run a lot of picks and screens to set up good shots like we do here,” said Denny.

“Ever since he was in eighth grade, he’s wanted to play Division I basketball and may have had a chance out of high school had he not got hurt,” said his father, Matthew Denny.

A torn ACL cost Denny most of his junior year at Seymour High School in Green Bay and he reinjured it before his senior year and missed half of that season.

A Native American, Denny is a member of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. His sister, Mariea Denny, was a student at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence when Denny was seeking a place to play basketball.

Learning of KCKCC, he was given a look by the Blue Devil coaching staff which immediately offered him a scholarship.

Denny’s signing at KCKCC proved a double bonus for the Blue Devil men’s program.

Dennis Tinnon, a 6-7 forward who played against Denny in high school at Green Bay East, joined his former rival this fall and leads the Blue Devils in rebounds (10.0) and is second in scoring (19.3).
 

From ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

If a sweep of doubleheaders in the 6th Annual Keith Lindsey Classic is any indicator, Kansas City Kansas Community College could be in for a banner basketball season.

The Lady Blue Devils raced past Cottey College 67-44 and arch-rival Penn Valley 71-54 while the KCKCC men defeated Haskell JV 132-56 and North Arkansas 75-67 as both moved to 3-0.

The Classic was highlighted by near-record shooting performances by the Green Bay duo of sophomore Derick Denny and freshman Dennis Tinnon, who combined to make 20 of 24 shots in the rout of Haskell.

Denny was 7 of 8 from 3-point range for 87.5 percent, a shooting percentage bettered only by an 8 for 9 effort (.889) by Ray Smith in 1994; while Tinnon was 12 of 14, an .857 percentage that is third on the all-time list behind Henry Thomas (10-10) and Sebastien King (15-16).

Six Blue Devils finished in double figures. Tinnon led with 26 points with Denny adding 23, Brett Jones 18, Melvin Gatson 16, Hal Payne 13 and Andre Metoyer 10 as all 12 Blue Devils scored.

Tinnon also had 11 rebounds and Payne 8 as KCKCC held a 52-24 rebounding edge while Scott Fruehling had seven assists, Gatson six and Jones five.

Denny followed up with another 29 points against North Ark including 7 of 14 3-pointers while Fruehling and Tinnon each added 14 points.

Tinnon again led in rebounding with eight while Metoyer and Denny added six each and Chris McDonald five. Fruehling led in assists with six as the Blue Devils built a 39-30 lead and stayed in command.

The KCKCC women used balance for its sweep with at least five players scoring eight or more points in each game.

Former Piper standout Michelle Selbe had 16 points, Sarah Craft and Alyssa Rushton 12, Jerae David 10 and Lori Schreiber and Melanie Phipps 8 each in the win over Penn Valley.

Schreiber also had 15 rebounds, Sharron Carlin 9, Selbe 8 and Rushton and David 7 each as KCKCC had a 59-32 rebounding superiority to offset 37 turnovers.

Selbe also led against Cottey, scoring 19 points while Rushton added 11 and Craft, Schreiber and Carlin 8 each. 

Phipps led rebounding with nine while Schreiber and Rushton each had eight and Craft seven. Leading 36-29, KCKCC limited the Comets to just four second half field goals and 13.6 percent shooting.

Both teams are in Salina this weekend for the Brown Mackie Classic. The women play Hesston at 1 p.m.

Friday and Brown Mackie Saturday at 5 p.m. while the men play Kansas Wesleyan’s JV Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Brown Mackie Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The men are back home Monday, Aug. 16, against Ottawa’s JV; the women return Nov. 24 against Missouri Valley.

The Kansas City Wizards did not go very far away from the house when naming their next head coach.

Peter Vermes, interim head coach and the Wizards Technical Director, has been named as manager of the team.

Vermes, who also played with the Wizards during their run to the 2000 MLS Cup, coached the last 12 games of the season.

"Kansas City is a place where you have an opportunity to build a great soccer club," Vermes said at his press conference today. "We have the ability to become a model franchise for Major League Soccer. We have a good plan and I'm confident we can make it work."

Vermes will maintain the duties of the club's Technical Director. However, additional changes could be made in the franchise. Vermes said a scouting director may be hired or another position on the team's coaching staff could be created.

Wizards president Robb Heineman said the choice was an easy one for him and the franchise.

"For my personal stand point I had always hoped Peter would be our choice," he said. "In the final 12 games the team played with a purpose and that reflects on him."

More available later this evening.

Bishop Ward Baseball Manager Dennis Hurla has been selected as the High School Division II Regional 5 Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Diamond Sports Company.

Since Hurla took over at Bishop Ward, the Cyclones have done nothing but win.

He has a record of 268 wins, 64 losses and one tie. He has won eight championships, finished runner-up three times, third place once and one fourth place finish at state.

In 2007, his team finished 26-0 and in 2008, Ward established a new state record for most consecutive state championships at six and most consecutive wins at 45.

Over 3,000 high schools are within Region 5. He will be honored next year early in Dallas.

If coaches within the Kansas City, Kan., League are correct, not much will change in the league from last year.

Sumner Academy was selected to win another KCK League title by the league's five coaches yesterday.

Along with the Sabres being tabbed to win the league title, Sumner star Reese Holliday was selected to win the league's top honor for Player of the Year.

Sumner's won 16 consecutive KCK League games and Holliday won the award last year.

In the poll, the Harmon Hawks were selected second – the position they finished last year.

Schlagle was predicted to have a bit of a rebounding season, being selected in third place a year after finishing in fourth. This year, they return Rozell Nunn, who was injured last season.

Wyandotte returns its big gun in Trinity Hall and coming off a nice run in last year's post-season tournament, the Bulldogs were picked fourth by coaches.

Washington, losing three key seniors in Brett Jones, Dominique Simmons and Kalub Long, were picked last.

Eight players were selected to fill out the KCK Elite Eight Team:

Reese Holliday, Sumner, Senior (Pre-Season Player of the Year)
Trinity Hall, Wyandotte, Senior
De’Ontae Hooks, Harmon, Senior
Rozell Nunn, Schlagle, Junior
Davonte Chaney, Sumner, Senior
Benny Parker, Sumner, Sophomore
Jauan Wilson, Harmon, Junior
Trevaughn White, Washington, Junior

The Kansas City Wizards will announce their choice of the next head coach of the franchise.

The WIzards will make the announce at the Swope Park Training Center at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.

By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

The call came in.

“Hey, I thought you should know Joe Mundt ran in this year’s New York Marathon and did pretty good.”

So how good is pretty good? Incredibly good as it turns out. In fact, on the edge of unbelievable.

A personal trainer in the Wellness and Fitness Center at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Mundt finished 69th out of, get this, approximately 43,500 marathoners including numerous professionals.

He was 65th among male finishers (four female professionals finished ahead of him) and 29th in the race officially designated as the U.S. Marathon championship.

If you do the math, Mundt finished in the top one-tenth of the top one percent in arguably the world’s most prestigious marathon.

His time of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 41 seconds in the 26.2-mile race would have almost won the 1970 New York Marathon, which was won in 2:31.38.

Making it even more incredible, it was only the second marathon for the 25-year-old Mundt. His first came just a little over a year ago when he finished 53rd out of a field of 11,000 in the Twin Cities Marathon run in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

That finish guaranteed Mundt entry into the New York Marathon.

“If you’ve run under 2:55 within the last two years, you’re guaranteed entry,” says Mundt. “Otherwise you have to enter a lottery and last year, 104,000 signed up for the lottery and they took 40,000, which means 64,000 were unable to run. And I’d guess it was more this year.”

Mundt started competitive running in his hometown of Chariton, Iowa, where he ran cross country and track and played basketball (he’s 6-4 and 175 pounds), earning all-state honors by finishing ninth in the state cross country meet and qualifying for state in the two-mile and mile in track.

He continued at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, earning All-MIAA honors in cross country three times and All-Region twice.

“Our team went to the national cross country meet all four years and my last year was the end of a stretch of qualifying for the national meet of 14 straight years which at the time was the second longest streak in Division II,” says Mundt.

He also earned six all-conference honors in track, two each in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters and two in relays before graduating with a BS in Physical Education with emphasis on Exercise Science. 

As fate would have it, a personal trainer position opened at KCKCC just as he was graduating in the spring of 2007.

“It was very nice to have a job in the first month after college plus at KCKCC, which is a great place to work. I really like it here.”

Mundt’s preparation for the New York Marathon peaked this fall at 80 to 90 miles of running a week, most of which was with the Kansas City Smoke running club which does the bulk of its training evenings in Mill Creek Park in the Plaza. 

As a member of the Smoke, he also competed in several half marathons including the Hospital Hill, Trolley Run and Kansas City Half Marathon, where he finished sixth; the St. Louis Half Marathon; and the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Club Championships on Randall’s Island in New York City, his first trip to the Big Apple.

“One shock with running my first marathon came when I went through the half-marathon point and it set in that I was only halfway done,” says Mundt. “Running a marathon was more difficult than I expected. I never had to push myself through anything like that. It’s not really stress compared to college where running a 5k really put stress on your body. A marathon has more discomfort that has to be dealt with.”

Mundt was up at 4:30 a.m. the day of the race, which is held annually on the first Sunday in November. He caught a subway to Manhattan, where he caught the 6 a.m. Staten Island Ferry to the starting area although his start time was not until 9:40 a.m.

“I was ready to get it over with but that’s how it is with so many runners,” he said.
   

Starting on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the 43,500 runners were sent off in waves. The bridge is divided into three lanes and runners stayed in their assigned lanes for the first eight miles when all merge.

Runners receive two times, one when a huge cannon shot starts the race and the actual running time when a sensor on each runner’s shoe kicks in at the starting line.

“There are check points along the course where the sensor gives you splits and makes sure everyone runs the course,” says Mundt.

From Staten Island, the 26.2 mile course takes runners through all five New York boroughs and finishes in Central Park.

“It’s quite an experience,” says Mundt. “They said 2½ million spectators line the streets and people are constantly cheering. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I was wearing my Kansas City Smoke shirt and I must have had 10 or 15 ‘Go Kansas City’ cheers.

There are always points where you feel like stopping or walking but the people really, really helped me to keep going and kept me from doing either. You constantly have someone watching.

“Finishing felt good although I think it was mostly relief.  But in both marathons, I felt I had accomplished something,” said Mundt, who received a gold 40th anniversary medallion for finishing along with a special marathon T-shirt.

Runners also received metallic emergency blankets, food and water upon finishing – and heaps and heaps of adulation. “I must have walked another mile to get out of the finish area and there were probably 20 emergency stations along the way and at everyone they were saying congratulations, just a flood of congratulations for finishing.”

While he’s eligible, Mundt probably won’t return to New York for the 41st Marathon in 2010. “I probably will at some time but there are some others I want to do, the major one being London but that may be very difficult because I would be an international runner and they take only so many.”

Meanwhile, his 69th place finish will get him into any U.S. race including the Boston Marathon, where Mundt’s co-worker, Jeremy Hammer, will be competing next spring.

Mundt’s ultimate goal is the Olympic Trials, which has a minimum qualifying time of 2:19. “I’m just a little over 12 minutes from qualifying which doesn’t sound like much but that’s a big hunk of time to take off,” he says. “I may never achieve it but that’s the ultimate goal. I know I can do better.”