Ethan Heppner, '11 and Alex Reich, '11

The two first-years have shown dramatic improvement from the start of the season. Heppner (Chicago Whitney Young HS) began the season as Grinnell's 7th runner at the Les Duke Invite, finished 8th for the Pioneers at Augustana and then rose to Grinnell's #3 slot at last weekend's Pre-National meet in Northfield, MN. Alex Reich, the brother of Grinnell's top runner henry Reich, also showed dramatic improvement at the Pre-National meet, finishing 5th for the Pioneers after finishing 14th and 13th for the team in the first two meets of the season.