Cross country gears up for championships

While even the Review took time off for fall break, Oberlin's cross-country teams continued to work hard for their upcoming Championship meet. Aside from returning to school early to practice as a team, both the men and women's teams competed in two meets before taking time off for fall break.

On October 8th, the Yeorunners traveled to Ohio Wesleyan to compete at the All-Ohio Championships. Runners from all three divisions came to the Championships to compete on the same course. On October 16th, they competed in the NCAA III Pre-Regional Meet at Ohio Northern University.

Oberlin took 34th out of 38th overall at the All-Ohio Championships. In the Division III race they were 14th out of 18th. In the race between all three divisions, Junior David Bevacqua took Oberlin's leading time, running the five-mile course in 27:59 and placing 48th.

Senior Captain Colin Fishwick came in not far behind at 28:14 taking 65th place. First-year Mike Severino took 70th place with a time of 28:17 and sophomore Forrest Crawford was not far behind in 73rd at 28:19. Sophomore Hans Petersen and junior Raymi Dyskant came in at 90th and 105th, respectively.

"At All-Ohio, the team didn't get out and get in the mix," said assistant coach Gavin O'Neal. "However, they've definitely gotten going since then and it showed at Pre-Regionals," he said.

The NCAA III Pre-Regionals brought positive attitudes and faster times. The men's team came in 9th out of 12, but were missing their fifth, sixth, and seventh runners. Bevacqua came in 21st. His time of 26:52 was thefastest for the Oberlin men on the five-mile course. "I had an incredible race last week," said Bevacqua.

Junior John Rogers, after recovering from an injury, took 30th with a time of 27:07. Crawford and Petersen were 47th and 75th with times of 27:32 and 28:33, respectively.

As the Yeomen look forward to the upcoming NCAC Championships at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, October 30th, and the NCAA Regionals on November 13th, they remain positive and focused on their goals.

"I think we'll run well at Conference and Regionals as long as we go into the races well-rested and ready to hold on to our competitive instincts as we descend deep into mid-race agony, trusting that adrenaline will carry us to the finish line," said Petersen.

"We believe we can finish fourth. Wooster is the team we're shooting to beat and I think we can do it," said O'Neal.

The Yeowomen are working hard to dominate the course at every meet. They took 19th out of 40 competing teams from all three divisions and they placed 5th out of 20 teams from Division III.

"As a team we had a good showing at the All-Ohio meet," said senior captain Medora Lytle.

First-year Lori Tuchfeld took 13th with a time of 20:32. She earned Oberlin's fastest time and a commemorative T-shirt.

"Lori Tuchfeld has been a strong leader for us since she has consistently placed first for the team in all of our meets," said senior captain Nikki Atkinson.

Junior Jenni Huelsman came in 26th in 20:45, while first-year Laura Feeney snagged 37th at 20:55. Senior captain Becca Grossman was 47th with a time of 21:10.

Oberlin's women took 5th place out of 10 teams at the NCAA Pre-Regional meet. Placing 15th at Pre-Regionals, Tuchfeld took Oberlin's fastest time in 20:05. Huelsman came in 16th with 20:06 and Feeney grabbed 22nd at 20:25. Grossman was 33rd at 20:39 and Lytle, returning after a battle with back problems, took 35th in 20:41.

"The team again showed great improvement at Pre-Regionals and excellent teamwork, as the top seven finished within the space of less than 60 seconds," said Head Coach Roger Laushman.

This hardy group of Yeowomen is looking to place in the upcoming Championships and Regionals.

"Denison University and Kenyon College have been the top two teams in the conference all season, but we are going in to the meet in great shape and with the goal of competing very strongly against those two schools," said Laushman.

"We are all focused and excited for conference and really looking forward to busting out on Saturday at the Championships," said Grossman.

Both the men's and women's cross-country teams are ready to prove that they are a team to be reckoned with. The NCAC Championships at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, Oct. 30, and the NCAA Regionals at Ohio Northern on Saturday, Nov. 13, will be their chance to display the final product of their season of hard work.Cross country off to NCAC championships at OWU