Many of the runners on the women’s cross country team were not born yet when the Yeowomen won the conference championship in 1984. Twenty-three years later, the Oberlin women are preparing to defend the North Coast Athletic Conference championship for the first time since that monumental achievement after winning the league last season.

The Yeowomen are returning a talented squad that was picked first by fellow conference coaches to win the league again. Senior Marie Barnett and junior Maddy Davis-Hayes will lead a team that was ranked in the nation’s top 25 for much of last season and narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Barnett finished fifth in the conference meet and 25th out of 222 runners at the regional championships, earning her both All-NCAC and All-Great Lakes Region honors. Davis-Hayes, who also earned such honors, was one place away from qualifying for nationals with a 19th place finish at regionals. Junior Nicky Ouellet will also be a key runner for the Yeowomen.

Although the men’s cross country team graduated Travis Grout, a key runner for Oberlin, the Yeomen will look to improve upon last year’s fifth place conference finish with a young squad that includes only one senior and one fifth-year. The Yeomen are led by juniors Conor Doss, Ryan King, Everett Schlawin and Corey Squire. The Oberlin men are picked fifth in conference this year.

The season began on Saturday, Sept. 1 with both Oberlin teams competing at Case Western Reserve University’s Bill Sudeck Classic. The women finished second out of 14 teams, while the men finished fifth out of ten teams.

The Yeowomen ran a strong race, losing only by 14 points to Case, which was ranked ninth in the nation last year. Oberlin was led by Davis-Hayes and Ouellet, who came in fifth and sixth, respectively in the 5k run. First-year Joanna Johnson showed she can compete at the college level, coming in eighth place in her first race. Barnett and first-year Erica Grohol rounded out Oberlin’s top five, finishing in 18th and 19th, respectively.

The Yeomen’s opening race of the year was highlighted by King’s 14th place and Doss’s 18th place finish. First-year Justin Warner, Schlawin and Squire rounded out Oberlin’s top five runners that are scored, finishing 36th, 45th and 67th respectively.

King’s performance in last weekend’s race earned the Glastonbury, CT  native North Coast Athletic Conference’s Runner of the Week.

Both teams are eager to show that Oberlin cross country is a force to be reckoned with both on a regional and national level.