Cross-country men race to second place

by John Metcalf

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the cross country teams participated in the 23rd Earlham Invitational. The men’s team finished second of five teams with 61 points on the day, and the women’s team did not score any points. The only team to score in the women’s race was Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Rose-Hulman won both the men’s and women’s title with a score of 20 for the men’s and 15 on the women’s side.

Four other teams competed with Earlham: Vincennes University, Rose-Hulman, Indiana University East, and Oakland City University. With the exception of Oakland City, Earlham was very familiar with all the teams coming into the meet due to racing them in the two previous events. 

The Men’s Team

The men’s team had five of the 10 runners on the roster score points for the Quakers. The top finisher for Earlham was sophomore Jacob Naegeli with a time of 28:09, finishing sixth overall. Naegeli has been the top runner in all three events this year. Among the other runners who scored points for the Quakers was sophomore Sean McGuire, who finished 11th with a time of 29:01. 

Seniors Evan Fackler and John White finished back-to-back, taking 14th and 15th with a time of 29:45. The last person to score points for the Quakers was senior Adam Tobin who finished 23rd overall with a time of 30:53. Pat Thomas, head coach for both teams, said, 

“Not all had their best race of the season, but our men competed quite well. We were pleased to finish ahead of Vincennes, who beat us at the Indiana Intercollegiates two weeks ago.”

Naegeli said, “None of us had our best times on the season due to the sloppy condition, but knowing the course real well helped us out a lot. It was a great finish, especially in the event that we hosted.” 

The Women’s Team

The women’s team had four of their six runners finish in the top 20. Freshman Hannah Santino was the top finisher for the Quakers with a time of 22:48, placing ninth overall. Like Naegeli for the men, Santino has been the top performer this year for the women’s team. The other runners in the top 20 were sophomore Erin McIlvain, (12th overall in 23:54), junior Caryn Wixom (15th overall in 26:25) and senior Emily Doering (17th overall in 27:01). The top female runner of the day was Melissa Roger from Rose-Hulman with a winning time of 20:04. 

McIlvain said, “We had a couple girls out with the flu but us four ran a great race. We just need to try to keep improving each day we practice.” 

Thomas said, “We got excellent performances from the four women who did compete. I can see they are improving.”

Both teams are off until Oct. 17 when they travel to Gettysburg College in Pa. and participate in the Gettysburg Invitational. The men’s race will start at 10 a.m. and the women’s will get underway at 12 p.m. This will be the last race for both teams to prepare for the NCAC Conference Championship, which will be on Oct. 31 at Ohio Wesleyan.