Track and field competes at All-Ohio meet

Finally, the weather cleared up and Oberlin's track and field team was able to compete. The team took the opportunity and ran with it.

Oberlin competed at the All-Ohio Meet last weeekend. The meet pits Oberlin against 16 other Ohio schools, including some of the best teams in the state. Oberlin succeeded nicely. "Everyone on the team had really good times," said sophomore Harsha Thirumurthy, "The distance runners made a really good showing."

Sophomore Max Rankenberg debuted in the 10,000-meter. "He ran very well," said head coach Tom Mulligan, "He did a nice job for his first 10K".

Thirumurthy and junior Kit Wells were among the top finishers in the 5,000-meter. The two finished in the fourth and seventh slots, respectively. Wells had not competed yet this season. "Kit's been snowed out and tornadoed out," said Mulligan, "He hasn't done a whole lot of this in the past, but he's working hard, training hard."

The 4 X 1000-meter relay team recorded their fastest time to date, running to a 44.23 finish. The team beat out the College of Wooster by one-hundreth of a second. "There's a little bit of a rivalry there," said sprint coach Tom Smith,."I think they were a little surprised we beat them. This weekend is the rubber match."

The shorter races were made more difficult by a heavy wind. "All the races had to be run into the wind," said Thirumurthy, "There was a lot of wind."

Oberlin's triumphs in the longer raes were enough to secure a 14th place finish at the meet. The men's team ended competition with 12 points, a meager total compared to Mount Union College's 168 winning score, but a good showing in light of Oberlin's lack of depth.

The women's team picked up two points with junior Tamarine Cornelius' run in the 5000-meter. Cornelius claimed seventh place with a time of 21:34.53. "Tamarine has worked exceptionally," Mulligan said, "She earned every point."

The teams travel to John Carroll University today. The meet has traditionally been a good one for Oberlin. "We've had a rocky experience this season, but we can't use that as a crutch, " said Mulligan. "We need better performances, and we expect that will happen."