Tiger Cross Country Gets First Look at NCAC Foes
The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams embarked on their first 8k/6k races of the season on Saturday morning, both placing fourth behind conference competition.
The Men's and Women's Cross Country teams embarked on their first 8k/6k races of the season on Saturday morning, both placing fourth behind conference competition.
It was the first look the Tigers got at what the NCAC brings to the table in terms of competition. Overall, Coach Craig Penney was satisfied with the solid efforts by the team. Junior Alexis Gray and sophomore Miles Caine, unfortunately, were forced to drop out of their respective races.
The freshmen led the Tigers for the women once again, claiming five of the seven scoring positions. The women's team tallied 124 points on the morning. Elizabeth Canright claimed the first position for the Tigers, crossing the line 16th overall after roughly 3.75 miles of hills and open fields. The freshman came through at 25:47.6, not long before teammate Lauren Welker made her way in at 26:04.8, scoring 20th overall.
Sophomore Erika Bournival, who dropped out of the race at last season's invitational, came in at 27:09.0 after a long 6k race. Morgan Ely and Annalee Lynn worked together for Tiger positions four and five to round out the top scorers, clocking in at 28:27.1 and 28:45.5 respectively.
For the men, Charles Rodeheffer, senior, made a comeback this week with a fourth overall finish, less than one second behind Oberlin's lead runner at 28:29.4. Freshman Cullen Sainey led the Tiger rookies, clocking 29:23.4 in his first collegiate five-mile race.
Following a 56-second gap, senior Brad Arledge made great strides into the finish with a time of 30:19.3. Freshman Ryan Zimmerman and senior Jersson Pachar, worked hard for their 30:49.0 and 31:03.3 finishes respectively in the first 8-kilometer race of the 2018 campaign. Battling for the fifth scoring position on the Tiger squad, freshman Jack Chambers and senior Evan Schreiber worked together to cross the line at 31:48.3 and 31:53.1 respectively. Bringing the cumulative score to 81, the men saw about a two and a half minute spread.
Both programs will march across the state to Akron, Ohio to compete in the All-Ohio Invitational on September 29.