Cross country still in the hunt

They were the best of runners. But the tales of Oberlin's two top cross country competitors have taken very different turns.

Senior Shannon Fox is the returning conference champion for the women's team. She raced to ninth in the regional meet and 65th at nationals.

Junior Hugh Finn finished second at the conference meet and 20th in nationals last year.

Fox is back for her final season running on the grass at Oberlin. But Finn is not competing.

"Hugh Finn chose not to run," Coach Tom Mulligan said. "Hugh was a significant contributor to the team in each of his first two seasons."

Nonetheless, both teams expect to be in the chase for NCAC championships again.

Without one of the conference's top runners, Mulligan said he's focusing on who is on the team.

Those runners are strong on both the men's and women's teams.

Last year, the women finished fourth in the conference and the men finished third. Coach Tom Mulligan isn't predicting where they'll finish, but he is confident enough about the teams' chances that he mentions trips to nationals as the seasons' goals. The last time that happened was when the 1994 women's team went.

The corps of runners competing this season includes two all-conference runners for the men in senior Alex Dawe and junior Harsha Thirmuthy. Also, the squad has picked up Max Rankebnerg, who played soccer for Oberlin in 1993 and 1994 and returning senior captain Kit Wells.

Like Finn, senior Dave Wallace has left the team, jumping ship to play soccer.

Dawe said the four upper-class students on the team could all be among the top 15 in the conference. He said that if one of the two first-years - David Cook and Colin Fishwick - can join them among the top 20, the conference championship is within reach.

The women also have high hopes. In an informal meet against Wooster last week, Fox was outrun by first-year Rebecca Grossman. While the team is looking more to the important meets that begin in mid-October than the early competitions, that performance shows the team's depth.

Other runners for the team include senior Manda Gillepsie, sophomore Katherine Jones, junior Trista Thornberry, sophomore Rachel Sims, sophomore Alison Widdoes and first-year Lisa Mickley.

"It's just a matter for the new people of gaining experience racing at the college level and distance, which is longer than in high school," Mulligan said.

The team hits the trail Saturday in a meet at Mount Union.