Cross country accelerate to third in Ohio classic

One month.

That's all the time that Coach Tom Mulligan is giving his teams to shape up and hit their top form. If they don't then they just might find themselves settling for a lower place in the standings.

Of course, that is a month away and right now both the men's and women's cross country teams are off to a great start after placing third in last Friday's Allegheny Classic. This annual competition, held at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, is in effect the kickoff to the official cross country season. "Considering that this was our first real meet," said Mulligan. "We ran very well. It was a very promising showing."

Sophomore John Rogers turned in a team-best sixth place finish for the men, less than a minute behind meet winner Mark Hudson of Allegheny. Sophmore David Bevaqua was close behind, finishing tenth.

Junior Medora Lytle was again the top finisher for the Yeowomen, managing a tenth place finish. The women's race was a tight one for the second week in a row with the top 12 finishers separated by less than a minute.

In the team standings, host Allegheny took first place on the men's side while Case Western Reserve University was the women's winner. Both Oberlin teams edged out Grove City Pa. College for their third place finishes. The men lead by nine points in the final standings while the women eked out a two point margin.

The Yeowomen were without one of their top five runners, an issue that Coach Mulligan is beginning to focus on. "We can't afford to have people miss practice. Injuries are negative on both the individual and the team. Right now we have two solid teams and it's just a matter of them both progressing with as few bumps in the road as possible."

Although it is still early in the season, Mulligan and assistant coach Abby Lorge see many positive developments. Of particular note are how well the runners are working together, and how aggressive the first year runners have been. "They all went out and attacked [the race]," said Mulligan. He added that they are becoming more comfortable in races and more aware of how to deal with them from both a mental and physical standpoint.

This week's meet at Kenyon will pit the Yeorunners against some stiff competition. Top teams from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana will be on hand. However, according to Mulligan, this is just one more step along the eight weeks until the conference championship.

Four weeks from now the team expects to be at the height of their game. By the time the championship rolls around, who knows how far they might go.