Yeorunners blaze quick trail

Women take second, men take fifth at Wooster

Once again, Oberlin's cross country teams have shaken the course with their speed, agility and perseverance. They used these qualities to overcome the humid weather and a challenging course at the Wooster Invitational last Saturday.

The women's team blew past the competition to earn second out of twelve at the College of Wooster on Saturday. They were beaten only by Baldwin Wallace College, whose team is ranked 16th in the nation in Division III cross country.

"Coming in second out of such a large field of talented runners was a real ego boost," said senior captain Medora Lytle.

Oberlin's fastest runner was first-year Lori Tuchfeld, who sped through the 5K race in 20:24, to snag eighth place and a commemorative meet tee-shirt. Tuchfeld missed first by 37 seconds. Also earning a shirt and seventeenth place was junior Jenni Huelsman with a time of 20:56. The shirts were given to runners who finished in the top 20 out of 138 competitors.

Earning 22nd, 25th and 26th places were Lytle, first-year Laura Feeney and junior Beth Spalding. Lytle came in with a time of 21:03, while Feeney finished the contest in just 21:08. Spalding completed the race shortly thereafter, earning an impressive time of 21:09.

The last two runners of Oberlin's top seven were senior captain Becca Grossman and first-year Kyle McKenzie. "The difference this year is that we have the depth as a team to do really well because our pack is so strong," said Grossman.

"Everyone is very positive on the team and looking forward to the larger meets," said McKenzie.

The women's team is steadily preparing for the All-Ohio meet at Ohio Wesleyan on Friday, Oct. 8.

"The All-Ohio meet will give the team a chance to preview the conference championship course, plus race under crowded conditions with lots of good runners," said women's coach Roger Laushman.

The women continue to look on each meet as experience gained in striving to be their best at their final, and most important, meets at the end of October.

"Our biggest goal right now is to take first at conferences, and if we do, there's a good chance we will place in the top two at regionals," said senior captain Nicki Atkinson.

After every meet, the women's team seems to agree on one statement as the perfect description of their performance: "We brought it."

The men's team improved their performance at the Wooster Invitational last Saturday by earning fifth out of twelve teams. The mens' fastest runner was junior David Bevacqua who earned fifth place out of 147 runners in the 8K run with a time of 28:02. He missed first by 22 seconds. Junior John Rogers snagged ninth in 28:12. Taking 47th, 60th and 62nd were sophomores Raymi Dyskant, Hans Peterson and Forrest Crawford with times of 29:44, 30:09, and 30:12, respectively.

"We did pretty well at Wooster as a team but our third, fourth and fifth runners really need to step it up if we are gonna do well in our conference," said Bevacqua.

While the men's team continues to work towards a higher placement on the course, they also value team bonding and crazy stunts off of the course. They proved that they possess the necessary attitude and spunk when they ran around campus clothed only in flowers, with their traditional naked run.

"I felt proud to be out there with the guys on the team and I'm honored that I was a part of a tradition that has been going on for years," said junior Daniel Schwartz. In an effort to promote awareness of the men's cross country team's running abilities and good form, they wowed both students and visiting parents, handing out flowers as they passed by.

As the men's team looks towards the Championships and Regionals, they maintain that positive attitude that so many Yeopeople possess.

"We have been progressing throughout the year and we're going to continue doing a great job of working off each other and committing ourselves to running," said Schwartz.

Both teams definitely have attitude. They will continue to bring this attitude to their upcoming meets, including the All Ohio meet at Ohio Wesleyan on Friday, Oct. 8.