Tiger Cross Country Defends Turf in Home Invitational

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Gabe Savage

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tiger men's and women's cross country teams survived the heat and humidity on Saturday to take home first and second place finishes respectively. Junior runner Katie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) led the Red & White women, finishing in sixth place, while the men were paced by junior Gabe Savage (Lewisburg, Ohio/Tri-County North), who finished fourth.

While not receiving a top-five finish on the women's side, the Tigers were bolstered by a strong pack just behind the top runners, including six top-30 finishes. Finishing in eighth place was senior Megan Poling (Medina, Ohio/Highland), followed by 12th-place freshman Margaret Nevin (Darien, Conn./Darien), 16th-place senior Alissa Goble (Sunfield, Mich./Lakewood), 19th-place senior Kara Clunk (Radnor, Ohio/Buckeye Valley), and 26th-place sophomore Ali Brown (Chillicothe, Ohio/Zane Trace). The women's field consisted of 60 runners.

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The Tiger men's cross country team celebrates its first-
place finish in the Wittenberg Invitational.

The men finished in first place as a team, improving upon last year's second place result in the same meet. The Tigers ran very competitively, taking the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, twelfth and thirteeth places individually. Finishing in the top ten in order behind Savage were freshman Kevin Frick (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview), senior Mike Wismer (Avon, Ohio/Avon), freshman Andrew Carter (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro), and senior Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North).

In the men's race, finishing behind Wittenberg were Wilmington College in second, Muskingum College in third, Capital University in fourth, and Central State in fifth. For the women, Wilmington College finished first, followed by the Tigers in second, Muskingum College in third, Capital University in fourth, and Cedarville University in fifth.

Written By: John Strawn
Photo submitted by: Ken Frick