Men’s and Women’s Cross Country ended their seasons on Saturday at the NCAC Championships, each finishing eighth respectively. DePauw and Oberlin took home the Men’s and Women’s titles with scores of 53 and 36 in the men’s 8 kilometer race and the women’s 6 kilometer race. Wabash and Allegheny followed DePauw in the men’s race, while Kenyon and Allegheny followed Oberlin in the women’s. Both the teams entered the competition ranked to finish last in the NCAC Championship; the men outpaced this ranking.
Prior to racing at the NCAC championship race, the men and women had two October meets to prepare them. They raced at the Jenna Strong Invitational at Wilmington College: here the men finished 26th out of 36 teams and the women finished 29th out of 33. After this race, the two teams traveled to Oberlin for the Inter-Regional Rumble. The men took 8th out of 28 teams, while the women took 24th out of 32 teams.
Ryan Zimmerman (’22) who finished the Men’s 8K in 27:02.5 for 19th overall, led the men’s squad who ended the season with an eighth-place finish out of the nine-team field. Zimmerman’s time of 27:02.5 was a new personal record for the sophomore, improving on his previous record of 27:22.9 set last year at the All-Ohio Collegiate Championships. Zimmerman was followed by Cullen Sainey (’20), 27:16.5, who finished 25th overall. Ian McCandlish (’23), 28:08.7, and Miles Caine (’21), 28:09.4, crossed the line at 50th and 51st overall. Andrew Reese (’22), 28:42.6, rounded out the Tigers top five, finishing 64th overall. The Tigers last runners were Evan Sugrue (’23), who finished in 29:33.3, in 82nd place; followed by Jack Chambers (’22) at 29:51.9, in 85th place, while Deven Ramsey (’21), finished out the race for the Tigers with a time of 29:57.9, placing him at 88th place. The Men finished eighth ahead of rival Wooster, beating the Fighting Scots, 186 to 234.
“My time wasn’t my first priority. I just wanted to race and get as many people as I could. That was our mentality going into the race,” said Zimmerman of his personal record.
Alexis Gray (’20) finished the Women’s 6K in 24:02.1 for 30th place. The sophomore duo of Elizabeth Canright (’22), 24:25.1, and Lauren Welker (’22), 24:36.0, followed Gray for 40th and 41st place finishes. Erika Bournival (’21) finished a minute behind Canright and Welker for a 59th place finish and a time of 25:26.5. Wittenberg’s top five was rounded out by Caroline Arndt (’23), 25:35.7, who finished in 64th place. Annalee Lynn (’22), 26:43.5, and Morgan Ely (’22), 26:49.2, finished in 78th and 79th as potential tie-breakers for the Tigers if needed. Katie Hodson (’20), 27:19.5, and Hannah Hayes (’23), 30:34.4, were the final two Tigers to cross the line on Saturday in 84th and 89th place. The women finished eighth out of the eight teams competing.
The teams’ highlight of the season occurred at the Wilmington open as the women’s team won the meet, while the men’s team placed fourth out of seven teams. Men’s and Women’s Cross Country next competition is the NCAA Regional on Nov. 16 in Grand Rapids, MI.
