Runners
Prepare for Regionals
by Rob Smith
Even
though it seems as though the cross country season just began, its
end is quickly sneaking up on us. Although their feet have been
held silent for the last few weeks, the Yeomen and Yeowomen runners
still have racing on their minds. Right now all that these tall
and lanky Obies can think about is the upcoming NCAA Great Lakes
Regional event Nov. 10 in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Division III regional
event will include teams from the good old Buckeye state, Michigan
and Indiana
The Yeowomen runners finished up the conference season Oct. 27 in
Crawfordsville, Ind. At the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships,
the Yeowomen tallied 89 points to finish fourth out of nine NCAC
teams.
Those who turned in fine performances for the Yeowomen were junior
Laura Feeney, junior Lori Tuchfeld and sophomore Julia Goeke.
Feeneys time of 19:29 gave her a first place finish at the
conference event, granting her the highest spot on first-team all-conference.
Tuchfeld finish the race eighth with a time of 19:42 and Goeke was
the only other Yeowomen to finish in the top 15 with her 13th place
finish of 20:00. Tuchfeld and Goeke were both named to the second-team
All-NCAC.
Two of our top five runners are injured, but I still think
we have a good chance of sending some girls to nationals. We are
going to have a lot of fun, sophomore Sarah Bennet said.
Said injured first-year runner Megan Radder, Its very
frustrating not being able to run. My season started off so well
and then its steadily declined. Its going to be real
hard watching my team run without me.
For the men, first-year Ryan McGinnis has been one of the most consistent
and successful runners for the all year. He finished the race with
a time of 27:02, which was good for a ninth place finish. McGinnis
earned second-team All-NCAC honors, while also being named Newcomer
of the Year. Finishing fifteenth and earning honorable mention All-NCAC
honors was sophomore Adam Greeney.
Weve been preparing for this race differently than usual.
During the season we would run around 55 miles a week at our peak,
now we are coming down from that to get ready for this race. Were
still very weak between our four and five guys, but I think we have
a good shot with our top three runners. And I will be going to nationals,
McGinnis said.
Taking time from watching Dude Wheres My Car on cross country
movie night, fifth-year captain John Rogers provided perhaps an
even more optimistic view of Saturdays meet. Its
my last race and I really think it can be potentially my best ever.
As a team, we are going to kick some ass and I feel very excited
about our prospects, Rogers said.
Im looking forward to just enjoying such a massively
important meet and just trying to run really well. Were facing
a lot of really good teams we dont normally see and I hope
the team succeeds in standing up to these guys. Im personally
just trying to approach it as another race and run my hardest,
first-year Dan OBrien said.
Senior Hans Petersen noted that there will be a few teams at Kalamazoo
that the Yeomen owe payback to. Next year, we could probably
make it to nationals as a team, but a good cap to this season would
be to beat some of the teams that beat us at conference. We know
we can beat them when we are at our best, Petersen said.
He added, Another key thing for us to do is to just not get
injured. [Sophomore Alex] Scally was having some leg trouble, so
hopefully hell be in better condition. John had a little bit
of a back spasm [at conference], so hopefully that wont happen
again. If hes healthy hell be way up there.
The Yeomen and Yeowomen will try to get their top five runners placed
as high as possible in the regional meet to obtain the lowest score
possible. Only the top five finishers score points for their team,
but it is key for the sixth and seventh place runner to also record
a good time so they can finish in front of another teams top
five runners. The scoring system works as so the higher you
finish, the lower your score. So if you finish first you get one
point, if you finish 10th you get 10 points, and so on.
Said Petersen, who usually is the all-important fifth runner for
the Yeomen, My strategy is to just go out faster than I have
ever before and keep it up longer. Im hoping to expend all
of my energy by the end of the race.
The top five finishers for the Yeomen and Yeowomen will determine
the outcome of the meet for all Oberlin runners. For the men this
is an 8 km run, about 5 miles, and for the woman it is a 5 km (3.1
mile) race.
I think we can finish in the middle of the pack if we run
as well as we can, McGinnis said.
However,
Rogers was a little less-reserved about regionals and feels the
Yeomen have an opportunity to best all of their performances so
far this year. Were going to fly on Saturday. I want
it to be a race I can remember. Were going to run til
we puke. Its going to be so shibby, he said.
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