In his first race as a Yeoman, first-year John Rogers managed to be the first to the finish line. Last Friday, Rogers sped through Oberlin's four-mile course in 21:26, beating out his closest competitor by almost 20 seconds.
The non-scoring meet against the College of Wooster, Friday was the first step on both cross country teams' paths to a season that will hopefully culminate at the conference championships.
The course tromps through the roughs of Oberlin's north fields, including no less than four trips over Mount Oberlin.
"Our coach is a genius for finding four miles of running there," first-year David Bevacqua said.
Bevacqua and his teammates' strong performance against Wooster gives the team hope of future successes.
After first-place Rogers, sophomore Colin Fishwick finished fourth at 21:52. Senior Max Rankenberg nabbed fifth and Bevacqua took sixth, finishing two seconds behind Fishwick.
Senior James Quinn rounded out the Yeomen's top five in 23:03, earning himself an 11th place finish.
The Yeomen would have edged Wooster had this been a scoring meet.
"The team showed a good group strength." Mickley said. "We are going to be up there."
On the women's side, the Yeowomen were competing against the defending conference champions, but still held their own.
"The woman who won the race finished seventh in conference last year," Coach Tom Mulligan said. "Taking that into consideration we ran very well in comparison."
First-year Jenni Huelsman led the crimson and gold charge taking third in the two and a half mile course, blazing to a 16:49 time, one second off her goal time of 16:48. Sophomore Lisa Mickley, first-year Beth Spalding, and co-captain junior Rachel Sims followed in the next 16 seconds, taking fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Junior China Weber placed 11th in 17:29 as the fifth finisher for the Yeowomen. Co-captain Katy Jones took 12th.
"We all felt that we ran well," Huelsman said.
In addition to intense practices, another positive factor for the team may be the energy drinks that Mulligan makes for the team. In previous years, the team bought Gatorade and Power Bars. This year Mulligan mixes Kool Aid or lemonade with salt and sugar to make a very intense energy drink.
Some like Huelsman stick with water. Others like Mickley water it down. "It's so strong you can feel the burn while you swallow it," Mickley said.
Bevacqua added, "Most people have to dilute it. It has something like 800 calories per ounce."
Mulligan's sport drink or intense practicing cannot prevent injuries, the main concern to both teams. Injuries can hinder the Yeomen and Yeowomen from reaching their goals, as the teams do not have enough talent to make-up for key injuries.
Senior Harsha Thirumurthy and sophomore Rebecca Grossman are still out with a stress fracture and broken toe respectively. Mickley has suffered from a probable stress fracture in her left foot for a number of weeks and this Friday will go in for a bone scan.
She is hoping to be out for no more than three weeks.
"It stinks," Mickley said. "I was looking forward to a strong season. I guess it will have to wait."
The addition of first-year Jessica Kennedy adds some depth to the team. Kennedy made the team on her second time trial last Saturday after working hard with the team since the preseaon.
"She amazed me," Mickley said. "She stayed positive the whole time."
The team will test the waters in their first full-distance meet at Allegheny College today.
The men and women will run against eight to ten teams, who compromise their most significant competition at the conference-meet.
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 2, September 12, 1997
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