Cross Country Persists Despite Injuries to Runners

With Oberlin set to host the North Coast Athletic Conference cross-country championships tomorrow, the Yeorunners are coming off of a month filled with morale boosting successes as well as downfalls that would make lesser teams cry.

Less than three weeks into the season first-year Alex Scally was sidelined with what was then called a mild leg injury. It was soon diagnosed as a stress fracture, ending a promising season and leaving Scally's teammates shaking their heads over the loss of what junior Eric Ludlow-Mallea dubbed "a fast dude [and] a solid runner."

The same week Scally's season ended, senior co-captain John Rogers halted his training to try and let a stress fracture on a vertebra heal. But by early October, two things were clear: his back would not heal by conference and, even if he was in full health, he would be in no shape to race. His season was over.

The women were not spared their top talent either. Sophomore Laura Feeney broke her foot in a bicycling accident and was not expected back for this weekend's meet. The injury understandably shook the team. "We were upset," said senior co-captain Beth Spalding. "She's one of our core runners."

Things changed on Saturday, Oct. 7 at the Ohio Northern Invitational. Oberlin roared to third out of seven with senior co-captain David Bevacqua capturing first place. Bevacqua's finish of 26:14 set a new meet record and was 14 seconds faster than Denison's Chris Lightle, who placed second. First year Adam Greeney placed twelfth for the Yeomen.

Their counterparts had a strong showing as well. Sophomore Lori Tuchfeld was fourth, just steps behind the third place finisher. Senior co-captain Jenni Huelsman was eleventh as Oberlin took fourth place out of eight schools.

Between the teams' upswing and tomorrow's championship, both squads began to taper, lessening the intensity of workouts to conserve strength. Many members of both teams returned to Oberlin midway through Fall Break to continue the training regimen.

The Yeorunners have also been trying to come to grips with the injuries. Prior to the start of this season, the buzz from both the team and the NCAC was that a healthy Oberlin squad, led by Rogers and Bevacqua, was well equipped to challenge for a top three finish. With the emergence of Scally, Oberlin saw the real possibility of taking home the conference championship.

Meanwhile, the women knew they had a legitimate title shot from day one. The Yeowomen turned heads at last year's meet, placing third instead of the predicted fifth. The squad was seeded fifth again this year, due in large part to injuries. The runners just shrug all this off. "We're all getting pretty psyched and I think we've got the capability to surprise some people again," Feeney said.

"It has been disappointing to have runners injured and out for the rest of the season, but the team is still looking strong," senior Daniel Schwartz said. "This is what it has been about all year long."

The tapering added to the adrenaline flow. "We're all rarin' to go," Bevacqua said. "Like caged beasts."

Adding to the optimism was this week's announcement that Feeney was healthy enough to run. "She is our secret weapon," Huelsman said, "and she is back like nobody's business."

"At this point, I've done all that I can to train through my injury," Feeney said. "It's all gonna come down to a mental race, but that's really how cross country always is ‹ who wants it most, who's gonna go for it."

It's clear Oberlin wants it. "I'm going to get greedy," Mallea said. "I'm going to make every small boy in front of me fall to his knees."

"We are going to bring the pain this weekend," Huelsman said. "This is our home course, we know it better than anyone and nothing can stop us."

These are squads that are more focused than ever on showing the conference that both this year's rankings and past years' performances are just dead wrong. "What our team has learned to do is really savor good competition," Rogers said. "We've learned how to be good, learned how to compete, and learned how to be better than we ever have before. [We] are not backing down to the big names in the conference."

Saturday's meets will be held at the Lorain County MetroParks Carlisle Equestrian Area. "The meet hosting is rotated, so this is an event that comes to Oberlin only once per decade," noted women's team coach Roger Laushman. "We won't see it here again until 2010."

Laushman estimates there will be about 100 runners in each race. Each team can enter up to 12 runners, although only the top seven runners from each school count in the standings.

For the women, '99 champion Denison is favored to repeat, but could see strong competition from Allegheny, Kenyon, and the now-healthy Oberlin squad. On the men's side, Kenyon is expected to successfully defend their title, but the rest of the field is wide open according to Laushman.

The race for top individual honors should be hotly contested. While undefeated Shannan Rieder of Earlham is the heavy favorite in the women's race, more than ten other runners, including Tuchfeld who finished eighth last year as a freshman, are expected to challenge.

On the men's side, Kenyon's Vince Evener is the favorite after finishing tops among Division III runners at the All-Ohio Championship. But no one is ruling out Bevacqua. The Pennsylvania native's times are among the best in the conference, and the NCAC cross-country preview listed Bevacqua as a possible "dark horse" for the individual title.

No matter who comes out on top, the finality of Saturday's competition will guarantee an exciting race. "There is no other sport where the entire season is defined in such a short period of time," Laushman said. "All the conference team and individual honors are decided in these races."

If that wasn't enough reason to come and cheer the Yeorunners, the Carlisle course is designed with spectators in mind. The start and finish are near each other, and the hilltop perspective of the finish area allows fans to see the runners on much of the two loops of the course.

Shuttles will be leaving for the course at 9:30 and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning from in front of Phillips. The races only last about 20-30 minutes each, "so we aren't talking about an all-day commitment," Laushman said.