Cross country avoids last place in race at Wesleyan
by John Metcalf
Last weekend the Earlham College men’s and women’s cross country teams took part in their final North Coast Athletic Conference Championship race at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. It was a cold and windy day on a muddy course, due to rain from the night before. The men’s team took ninth place out of ten teams and the women came in eighth out of nine. Allegheny College won the men’s competition, and the women’s competition went to Oberlin.
Women’s team
The lady Quakers had five women score points for them in the 6k race. The top finisher for them was freshman Hannah Santino with a time of 27:09.8, good enough for 68th place. Santino was the top finisher for the Quakers once again; she has been the top finisher in every meet this year. The other runners who scored for the Quakers were sophomore Erin Mcllvain, who finished 81st in 29:35.8, and senior Emily Doering, who finished 83rd with a time of 30:13.5. The last two runners to score for the Quakers were junior Caryn Wixom in 84th place with a time of 30:34.5 and freshman Noor Balbaky, who finished in 87th place with a time of 32:06. The top female of the day was junior Katie Navarre of Denison College with a time of 22:09.9.
Mcllvain stated, “We didn’t have our best time on the season due to the muddy condition of the course. Hopefully we can be able to perform up to our ability in the Great Lake Regional.”
Coach Pat Thomas stated after the meet, “Our women’s squad is fairly young and we look for them to make gradual progress over time.”
Men’s team
The men’s team had five runners score to help the Quakers get ninth place in the 8k race. Sophomore Sean McGuire was the top finisher for the Quakers in the meet. He finished in 47th place with a time of 28:34.9. This was the first time that McGuire was the top finisher for the Quakers. He was unable to compete in the previous meet at Gettysburg Invitational due to the flu. The next Quaker to score was sophomore Jacob Naegeli who finished 51st in the time of 28:45.5 and two spots back was senior Evan Fackler who finished 53rd in a time of 28:50.6. This was Naegeli’s first time not being the top performer for the Quakers this year. The next members who scored for the Quakers were senior Adam Tobin, in 90th place overall with a time of 30:23.3 and senior John White who finished in 94th place in the time of 30:38.1. The top male runner overall was junior Jeramie Parker of Allegheny College in 25:53.
Thomas said, “Our men’s squad had quite a few recent illnesses and a key injury or two that hampered their ability to race at their highest level.”
The men’s and women’s cross country teams are off next weekend to get ready for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Great Lakes Regional. It is hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and DePauw University in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Nov. 14 with the first race starting at 11 a.m. Rose-Hulman is in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which Earlham is moving to next year. The Quakers should be familiar with the course, as they raced there earlier this year for September’s Indiana Intercollegiate competition.
McGuire said, “It seems that at every race we have a few guys that are hurt or got the flu a couple days before the meet. Hopefully we can stay away from that in our next meet and finish this year strong.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
